Staff at a Hayes football club raised £1,000 for teenage stroke victims at a charity night held in honour of one of its former players.
Aspiring footballer Jac Rush, 17, had been on track to turn professional when he suffered a stroke during a match in December last year.
He is now managing to speak a few words but has been told he may never play football again.
Zoe Herbert, who organised the charity night at AFC Hayes, said: “For someone whose life has been centred around football, you can imagine the heartache he and his family felt. But we are grateful because he is alive and is still here.”
The club, in Kingshill Avenue, Hayes, held its fundraiser on March 20 to raise awareness of teenage stroke victims and to generate money for the Jac Rush Foundation and the Stroke Association.
The evening featured a raffle, an auction, food and televised horseracing.
Ms Herbert, who works at the club as bar supervisor and social secretary on the weekends, said: “The night was a great success and I cannot thank people enough for coming and supporting Jac and his family and raising so much money for both Jac and the stroke association.”
Childhood strokes affect around five out of every 100,000 children a year in the UK.
