'What Crystal Palace have done for me and the family is absolutely immense and I’ll never forget it'
Hartlepool United manager Graeme Lee has thanked Crystal Palace for helping to raise money for his wife's cancer treatment before their FA Cup fourth-round match at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Lee's wife, Gemma, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2019 and was told that she had just 12 months to live. However, her life has been prolonged thanks to a trial drug called ONC201.
The cost of the medication for a year is around £60,000 and on Friday night, a
JustGiving page was created to help raise money for Lee's family to continue paying for the treatment. As well as encouraging their fans to donate to the page, Palace donated £1,000 to help with the costs.
Before a ball was even kicked on Saturday, the initial target of £60,000 had been surpassed.
Despite Hartlepool losing the fixture 2-0 - with Palace's goals coming from Marc Guéhi and Michael Olise - Lee admitted he'll be forever grateful to the Eagles and that he would never forget the tie for what it meant for him and his family.
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"What Crystal Palace have done for me and the family is absolutely immense and I’ll never forget it," he said in his post-match press conference.
"This game was a big game [for me]. I would have remembered this game no matter what but for what Crystal Palace and their supporters have done, I think the funds have already gone above a year's supply of medication for my wife, which for us knowing we’ve got that is absolutely unbelievable.
"Not only the funds but the support as well, that means as much as the money because my wife knowing there are that many people supporting her and giving her well wishes there can only be positive things from it.
"I’ll support Crystal Palace now and hope they do well and want them to win and succeed because of what they’ve done for us."
Palace boss Patrick Vieira also discussed the subject in his post-match press conference, reiterating that his opposite manager and his family have the club's '100 per cent support'.
He said: "We are thinking about his family and we are giving them 100 per cent support [to] keep fighting because of course that's a really difficult period to go through as a family."
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The former Arsenal midfielder later tweeted that he was "very proud" of the Eagles fans for their generosity in donating to the JustGiving page, which has currently raised more than £70,000.
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