Celtic skipper Scott Brown and ex-Hoops star Paddy McCourt reach out to brave leukaemia sufferer Ace Ward

The Derry City Technical Director stumbled upon an old pair of his football boots in a recent clear-out of his garage and donated them to Celtic fanatic, Ace Ward, who has spent the past eight weeks in a Glasgow hospital fighting for his life.

“Found an old pair of boots in the garage yesterday, if anyone wants them I’ll sign them and send them to you,” offered McCourt on Twitter in an effort to add a bit of cheer amid the coronavirus lockdown.

“Hopefully it’ll cheer someone up after a pretty depressing few days for us all.”

The former Northern Ireland international was inundated with hundreds of requests but decided young Ace was a worthy winner considering how he has taken his illness in his stride.

“Thanks for all the messages regarding the boots, a lot of worthy causes without doubt but I’m going to send them here to this young lad and his family. Feel free to do with them what you see fit.”

It was a wonderful gesture from the Celtic cult hero, a status he enjoyed during five successful years at Parkhead. And such a small act of kindness served to lift the spirits of the young Irvine Meadow youth footballer whose family are all passionate football supporters.

In an emotional interview, Ace’s father, Brian, who describes his son as ‘my own wee superhero’, explains how McCourt’s gift and a signed jersey from Celtic skipper, Scott Brown will take pride of place in the youngster’s bedroom he shares with his older brother, Harrison.

While the option of auctioning the memorabilia would no doubt help raise much needed funds for the family, particularly given they’ve had to leave their jobs to become full-time carers for Ace and his two siblings, Harrison (9) and Hallie-May (7), Brian insists they will keep the cherished items as a keep-sake for their brave son.

“It was such a lovely gesture from Paddy,” said Brian. “Scott Brown gave him one of his signed Celtic tops a couple of weeks ago as well.

“It was a really tough week for the wee man and it picked him up. It really did put a smile on his face.

“I don’t know how he does it. Well, he gets his strength from my wife I suppose. He has smiled his whole way through it. He’s our wee superhero.

“I still play amateur football and I’ve been a member of Irvine’s No. 1 Celtic Supporters club. It was our football manager who actually contacted Paddy on Twitter which was great.

“I’ve watched Paddy play - the old Derry Pele,” adds Brian. “We used to love how good a dribbler he was. He scored some smashing goals for us. He was a player with an unlimited amount of talent.

“Right now Ace and Harrison share a room and it’s basically covered in Celtic and Liverpool memorabilia, scarves, flags and tops. It’s for Ace and we think we should just keep them for him. They are memories for him and further down the line, when he’s beat this, he can turn around and say he got these boots from Paddy and that top from Scott Brown.

“Because it’s such a moving gesture from the likes of Paddy and Scott, I think he should be keeping things like that rather than auctioning them off.”

The Ward family’s lives were turned upside down last January 23rd when Ace was first diagnosed with a rare genetic illness, B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Described by his mum, Celtic season ticket holder, Vicky, as her ‘Ace of Hearts’, she had to leave her job as an NHS nurse after 16 years service to care for her youngest son.

“We’re trying to wake up from this nightmare,” she explained.

The night before he was diagnosed at their local hospital, Ace had been his usual energetic self, playing football and scoring goals at his youth football team’s training session. However, less than 24 hours later, Vicky was worried about his pale complexion and took him to their GP.

Brian was quickly summoned to the Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire to be told his son had developed a rare blood disorder and their lives changed dramatically. The determined primary one pupil has undergone several surgeries, platelet transfusions, blood transfusions bone marrow biopsies, lumbar punctures and chemotherapy treatment over the past three months and his strength has helped his parents get through the hardest time in their lives.

“It’s the worst thing a parent should ever have to go through,” said, Brian breaking down. “No child in the world should have to go through this. And no parent should have to watch their child go through it. It’s the worst thing possible!”

It’s been such a rollercoaster for the Ward family and Brian admits he thought he had lost Ace during a particularly worrying few days as they kept a vigil at his bedside.

“It’s a long battle,” he explained. “Everybody is different. Some people can take up to two or three years to get into remission.

“To begin with they told us the success rate from the treatment was in the 90 per cent region but then they found a gene which makes everything harder. The consultant we were dealing with only ever seen it three times. It was scary. It was bad news on top of the bad news.

“We don’t really know the long term. We are taking it one day at a time. Two weeks ago he caught an infection while he was in the hospital. My wife and myself literally sat by his bedside for five or six days without leaving the room. At one point we didn’t think he would see the next day.”

Ace’s aggressive form of Leukaemia has required him to undergo intense chemotherapy but even that has failed to break the spirit of the inquisitive youngster.

“To begin with, he asked a lot of questions about why he couldn’t go home or see his brother and sister. The small things. We didn’t lie to him and explained that he was in the hospital because he had bad blood and had to get medicine which was only in the hospital.

“We did things like name his blood transfusions his ‘Liverpool Juice’ because he and I are big Liverpool fans. One of the chemotherapy drugs is a kind of luminous green and we called that his ‘Hulk Juice’. He had another which was luminous orange and that was his ‘IronMan Juice’ - just small things like that to keep him entertained. It’s affected his mobility and he gets tired but he is determined. He doesn’t lie down and feel sorry for himself, ever.”

Having battled his way through all his treatment and extensive tests in such a short period of time, it wasn’t until he was told he would lose his hair that Ace started to struggle with his diagnosis. That was until his mum suggested he ‘got a Broony’, a shaved head like his Celtic hero, Scott Brown.

“We told him about his hair which was one of the hardest things. He did everything else with a smile on his face but when we told him his hair would come out that really scared him. He said he didn’t want a baldy.

“My wife, like myself, is a massive, massive Celtic fan and she told him he would get to have a ‘Broony’ and as soon as she said that he said, ‘You know what, mum, just shave my head. I want a ‘Broony’.’

Ace was permitted to return home last weekend to see his siblings but it was a brief visit and he returned for more chemotherapy at the beginning of the week.

And given the introduction of new measures enforced at the hospital during the coronavirus crisis, Ace is deemed high risk meaning only his mother can stay with him. That’s been particularly hard on the family but Brian’s been doing his best to keep in contact.

“He got home last Saturday for the first time in something like 52 days - just over seven weeks. But they had to take him back to the hospital to get more chemo.

“Today he’s actually waiting to go back down to the theatre again but the protocol has all changed with this coronavirus. I’m actually in the house with my other two and my wife is with Ace.

That’s the way it has to be now. We Facetime and use Whatsapp to keep in touch.

“You have to show an outward strength and good spirit when you’re around him. I’m very emotional now but that’s just because he’s not next to me. My wife is the same. She’s been an absolute rock and has dragged me through it to be honest.”

The support and well-wishes from friends, family and strangers alike has also helped the Ward family through such a deeply worrying time.

“The support we’ve received from our friends and family has been overwhelming. If it was just love and support he needed, he would’ve been home weeks ago.”

And Brian and the family are forever indebted to people like Paddy McCourt and the extended Celtic family for reaching out at this time and ensuring the Ward family ‘never walk alone’ as the words of the club’s stirring anthem goes.

Clearly, ex-Derry City and Hoops star, McCourt was not just a class act on the field!

To donate check out Ace Ward’s Just Giving Page by clicking here