For all his prodigious talent on the soccer field, Cristiano Ronaldo has a tendency to rub people the wrong way at times. Some of it may have to do with the fact that the Portuguese footballer is young, gifted, handsome, rich, and has been known to cavort with some of the most beautiful women in the world (his current girlfriend is swimsuit model Irina Shayk, seen here in all her glory), while others may be put off by the arrogance and poor attitude he occasionally displays on the pitch, despite the beauty of his game.
This story, however, may make you change your mind about the oft times petulant football star. Ronaldo and his agent, Jorges Mendes, are funding an experimental cancer treatment for a young fan named Nuhazet, a 9-year-old lad from Las Palmas, Spain, who has been fighting the dreaded disease since before he was two.
What started out as a once-in-a-lifetime trip for the ailing Nuhazet to see Real Madrid play Mallorca in the final match of the La Liga season turned into a meeting with Ronaldo himself, who promised that if he scored a goal he would dedicate it to Nuhazet, which he did when he opened the scoring at the 19-minute mark en route to a 4-1 Real Madrid victory. Nuhazet watched the game from Ronaldo’s private box with the aforementioned Shayk at his side.
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, all things considered. But thankfully the story doesn’t end there.
The next day Mendes asked Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to call the physicians at Sanchinarro Hospital so that they could assess Nuhazet, which they did, and the doctors quickly started the boy on a new course of treatment, which included an experimental drug only available in the United States.
Via Dirty Tackle…
Real Madrid beat Mallorca 4-1 and lifted the Liga trophy for the first time in four years. Ronaldo scored the first goal of the game and dedicated it to Nuhazet. As perfect as the day was, that was supposed to be all there was to it. But the following day, Mendes had Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who weeks later lost his wife to a long fight against lung cancer, personally call doctors at Sanchinarro Hospital. They quickly saw Nuhazet and started a new course of treatment that included a personalized drug from the United States with Ronaldo and Mendes paying for everything.
Whether this new treatment helps the ailing Nuhazet remains to be seen, but considering that in March the family had been told there was nothing to do for the boy after an MRI revealed the cancer had spread to three different areas of his spine, at the very least this gives Nuhazet and his family some much needed hope, which is always beneficial in the fight against cancer.
Love him or hate him, you have to admit that this is quite the admirable and magnanimous gesture by Ronaldo and his agent, and will do nothing but help repair his somewhat imperfect reputation.
[image via]
