Jack Grealish's donation to a fundraiser for an Everton fan fighting aggressive stage four kidney cancer made the family burst into tears
Everton star Jack Grealish
Everton star Jack Grealish (Image: Getty Images)
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A family were left in "complete shock" after receiving a £10,000 donation from Everton star Jack Grealish. The 31-year-old made the heartwarming gesture after learning about Toffees fan Leon Skapars, 36, who is fighting aggressive stage four kidney cancer and has been given one to three years to live.
The dad-of-three from Southport was diagnosed with kidney cancer in March 2025 and underwent major surgery to remove his right kidney. But the cancer returned and spread three months later.
Leon has since been told his condition is terminal and been placed to palliative care on the NHS, leaving his family searching for further treatment options that could give him more time with his wife, Crystal Duffy, 31, and three children, Tony, 11, Leuin, four, Warren, three.
To help with this, the family and local community have begun fundraising to help them access treatments and clinical trials not available through the NHS. But on Thursday, they were stunned to discover that Everton and former Manchester City midfielder Grealish had donation £10,000 to support Leon's fundraiser.
Crystal told the Liverpool Echo: "We couldn't believe what we were seeing, I thought there was an error on the page so I refreshed it three times to then seen Jack Grealish's name and £10,000, I was in complete shock.
"I ran downstairs to wake Leon, who was asleep. I was so overwhelmed I could barely get the words out. When I finally told him, his whole face just lit up. We hugged and smiled at each other, and then we both just burst into tears.
"It's difficult to explain what that moment meant to us. It wasn’t just seeing £10,000 on a screen, it was suddenly feeling like we were a huge step closer to getting Leon the treatment we are desperately fighting for. In that moment, Jack gave our whole family something we desperately needed, hope.
"We are an Everton family, so for someone like Jack to see Leon’s story and do something so incredibly generous means more than we could ever express.
Jack Grealish of Everton
Jack Grealish's gesture stunned the family(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images)
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"Obviously £10,000 is an enormous amount of money towards Leon’s treatment, but it has also given us such a boost emotionally. Sometimes this fight feels impossible, and then something like this happens and reminds us how many people are behind Leon.
"We have three young boys who just need their dad. Everything we are doing is about trying to give Leon the best possible chance of being here to watch them grow up."
Grealish's generous gesture came just hours, however, before Everton punished him and left him out of their squad to face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup. The England international did not feature due to a breach of club discipline.
Asked about Grealish's absence after the game, David Moyes said: "It's something I don't really want to speak too much about. It's a club decision, so I support the decision.
"The club are the people you should go to if you're looking for more information."