West Ham hosted Southampton in a game in which the biggest applause went not to any of the players who played, but to the team's number 12. And it's a round of applause not just from London fans but from those of all teams, as it's about Ayla Keaton, a 6-year-old girl who is battling a rare form of cancer, touching everyone.
In 2018, West Ham captain Mark Noble walked onto the pitch with a little girl in his arms; it was a fitting way for everyone to know his story. Her name is Ayla Keaton and fate was not kind to her, as when she was two years old she was diagnosed with malignant neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that "strikes" just 100 children a year.
Her parents, of course, did their best to find the money for proper treatment. They sold their house, had everything they owned, went for treatments at a special oncology clinic in Barcelona and were informed that the little girl had only three months to live... This, however, was not confirmed. Ayla proved stronger than the doctors expected and at six years old, now, she is still fighting her battle.
A battle that West Ham want to fight with her, deciding to make a symbolic gesture by including her in their squad for the Southampton game, giving her the number 12 and waiting for her on the pitch. Developments, however, did not allow it, as she had to go to hospital for a blood transfusion. However, this does not detract in the slightest from the beautiful initiative taken by the London club, renewing the appointment with Ayla for one of the forthcoming games.[/b][/p
Source: newsbeast.gr
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