When Roots, Cook and co did something special for a young cricket fan
Ben was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a type of cancer, in February last year when he was just 10 years old. It was a devastating diagnosis — and he feared he’d never be able to play his beloved sport (cricket that he so loved) again.
But Ben wasn’t going to let chemotherapy stop him from enjoying life to the full. He carried on playing cricket through his 6 months of treatment.
“Cricket gave him that focus,” Helen said. “We’ve learnt that life doesn’t have to stop when you are diagnosed with cancer — having something positive to focus on is crucial and for Ben that was cricket.”
It was Ben’s dream to meet the England cricket team — especially his hero Joe Root!
In June 2016, Ben’s wish came true. The family were chauffeured from their home in Cambridge by limo to meet the England cricket team during a training session at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. The team were there waiting to play cricket with Ben!
Here they are in action — Ben even gets some advice from his fave players:
Ben said facing the team in the nets was like watching them through a TV screen — he could hardly believe that the players were actually there in front of him!
His mum told Make-A-Wish about how much the experience means to Ben: “The fact that his idols have taken time out of their schedule to meet and play with him means more than we can ever say — we are quite literally bowled over”.
“Ben will remember it for the rest of his life — we cannot thank the ECB and Make-A-Wish enough for making his wish come true. We have so many memories to sustain us.”
Ben’s now 12 years old and has thankfully been declared in remission.
