Seamus Coleman says the plight of Liverpool fan Sean Cox ‘touched a spot’
Dunboyne man Mr Cox suffered a serious brain injury when he was attacked before Liverpool’s Champions League game against Roma last year.
A fundraising match in his honour between Liverpool and Republic of Ireland legends will take place on Friday night at the Aviva Stadium.
Coleman, who plays for Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals Everton, has pledged around €10,000 to support the cause.
“I wanted to do something,” Coleman told Off The Ball on Sunday after Everton’s 1-0 win over Arsenal.
“He’s an Irish man and I just pictured him leaving Dublin Airport that morning to be excited to go to a football game, like all people do.
“To think that something like that could happen, for some reason it touched a spot. I wanted to help.
“At the training ground in Dublin, I met the mother and the son. I wanted to do something again. Sometimes putting your name to something isn’t for any personal attention, it’s to raise awareness for the cause and I think it did that.”
Mr Cox will has been under the care of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire and has been given the green light to attend Friday’s game.
Coleman said: “Now, with this game, it will be great if people will get behind it. They are going to need some funding for his care. It should never have happened. Liverpool, as a club, have rallied around brilliantly and hopefully the game goes great.”
Tags:“I just pictured him leaving Dublin airport, excited to go to a football match, and to think that something like that could happen just touched a spot.”@seamiecoleman23 on his support for the #SeanCox charity match ☘
Full interview with Seamus here: https://t.co/z1hUjuHoKi pic.twitter.com/wH308u4lRR— Off The Ball (@offtheball) April 7, 2019