An account manager whose brother was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition has faced some of his childhood heroes in a charity football match to raise money and awareness.
Daggers fan Scott Davies, 27, lined up against a Dagenham and Redbridge FC “legends” team at the Victoria Road Ground on Saturday, alongside friends and family.
More than 600 people turned out to support the teams, raising £3,700 for research into Klinefelter syndrome.
The condition affects about one in 600 boys, often causing learning difficulties and muscle weakness, including Scott’s seven-year-old brother Bailey, who was diagnosed in February last year.
Although his side lost 4-1 to the former professionals, including Anwar Uddin and Mark Arber, the left-back says the day was so successful, plans are already in place to make it an annual fixture.
“We were only expecting about 300 people to turn out and to hopefully raise about a thousand pounds, so to have that much support and money raised was just unbelievable,” he said.
“The actual game itself was unreal. To be playing football against guys we’ve grown up supporting was a dream come true.
“I’m still buzzing days later. For us the biggest goal was to raise awareness, knowledge of it is so small at the moment so to get 650-odd people over was fantastic.”
Scott had never heard of Klinefelters syndrome until Bailey’s diagnosis, which means males are born with an extra X chromosome, and is sometimes known as XXY.
Visit facebook.com/daviesfamilyquest for more information about future fund-raising.
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