Man Utd star ‘humbled’ after seeing Make-A-Wish kids

After a year that’s seen him slide out of the Three Lions’ first XI, finish in the bottom half of the Premier League with stuttering Chelsea and suffer the unwanted attentions of a stalker, a sharp reality check might have been just what the doctor ordered for Mason Mount.

Sporting a new peroxide blonde crop, the 24-year-old attacking midfielder took time out of his pre-season training schedule to help children’s charity Make-A-Wish.

Visiting Hoar Cross Hall, Staffs, with seriously sick youngsters a fortnight before sealing his £55million move to Manchester United, Mount told the Daily Express: “Coming here and spending a day with the families and hearing their stories definitely puts things into perspective in your own life.”

It’s a million miles away from the pressure-cooker environments of Wembley Stadium, Stamford Bridge or even Westminster Magistrates Court. It was at the latter that fixated influencer Orla Melissa Sloan was convicted earlier this month of stalking Mason and of harassing his teammates Billy Gilmour and Ben Chilwell.

“Looking at the challenges they’re facing and overcoming on a daily basis is so inspiring,” says Portsmouth-born Mason, who is joining his international colleagues Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw at Manchester United.

“The families’ resilience and strength is incredible, and it 100 percent inspires me to be more resilient and strong in my own life. The whole experience has been totally humbling – it makes you realise there’s more to life than football.”

Usually a five-star hotel and spa, the luxurious Hoar Cross Hall has been painstakingly transformed into Disneyland-on-Trent for nine days as part of Make-A-Wish’s annual programme – now in its third year – to grant wishes to ill children, many of whose lives will be cut tragically short before Mount hangs up his boots.

Along with fellow Make-A-Wish ambassador, Girls Aloud’s Kimberley Walsh, Mount has spent the day mingling with youngsters and families whose day-to-day lives are dictated by the demands of dealing with a sobering array of traumatising medical conditions from childhood cancers to rare congenital disorders.

And yet the atmosphere at Hoar Cross Hall is anything but gloomy.

More than 160 families living with life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses are enjoying Disney character experiences – including Marvel and Jedi training, a Frozen sing-a-long and bedtime stories from Mickey and Minnie – providing invaluable respite for the parents and siblings of children who have spent as much time in hospitals and on operating tables in their short lives as they have in their own homes.

“Today is definitely not about me,” says Mount, who is hoping to refocus next season and add to the five goals and 36 caps he’s already won for the Three Lions, and the Champions League winners medal he won with Chelsea in 2021.

“I’m not really thinking about football today. When you’re at an event like this, you put that to one side and just try to concentrate on helping to put a smile on the faces of the children and families who are getting so much from this.”

Buoyed by their new surroundings and away from the often unforgiving attitudes of the wider world, the children, mostly donning superhero costumes or princess dresses, are in seventh heaven.

Carly McDonald, whose seven-year-old son Cooper – an avid Chelsea fan – suffers from a rare condition which caused him to develop leukaemia and endure a bone marrow transplant when he was just two, says: “It really is a dream come true. We’ve not been away as a family since Cooper was born. Not even for a weekend.

“Because Cooper was so vulnerable, he couldn’t do the things that most babies and toddlers did. We had to create a bit of a bubble for him. He couldn’t do playgroups and nor could his three siblings, as the risk of infection would be too great and having friends round the house was too risky.”

Thankfully, Cooper has now been in remission for four years. His mother adds happily: “Even though I find it hard to accept that it’s really true, the doctors tell us he’s now doing really well and they’re happy with his progress and hopeful for the future.

He has to have annual follow-ups for the rest of his life and regular heart and growth tests, but his immune system is good and fully functioning and he is very resilient, and he has immense amounts of energy.

“I don’t know where he gets it from considering everything he’s been through, but he just loves life.

“Meeting Mason and being here means the world to us. It’s a beautiful setting and it’s helped us reflect on what we’ve all been through and realise quite how difficult the last few years have been. And it’s also been very emotional seeing the other families and hearing what it means to them as well.”

Another youngster to benefit from the star treatment is four-year-old Kyianna-Faith Dixon, who has spent more time in hospital than most people ten times her age. Born with congenital heart defects, she’s already had two major heart surgeries and is due her third – and final – surgery in the next few months.

But her mother Ryann is celebrating as she has already confounded expectations. “I was 20 weeks pregnant when I first found out about her condition and theytold me to terminate her and told me she wouldn’t have the life of a normal child,” she explains.

“But I thought, ‘No, she deserves a life’. I wanted to give her memories and even when she was born, she proved them wrong. They said she’d be only four pounds but she was eight pounds six ounces. And they said she wouldn’t live beyond her first birthday, but she’ll be five years old in October.

“We don’t know whether she’ll have two years left, or two months, or even just weeks. But whatever happens after Kyianna-Faith’s final surgery, we’re always going to have these memories and these photos. This is a time that none of us will ever forget.”

Mount wasn’t much older than young Kyianna-Faith when he first joined Chelsea FC’s youth academy as a six-year-old, diligently working his way up to become one of the senior team’s most valued midfielders.

He made his international debut in 2019, aged 20, and became part of the squad that lost out in the final of the 2021 Euros. In last year’s World Cup, he and his fellow England players reached the quarter-finals. Despite all this success on the pitch, Mount insists family is more important to him than football. Proof of this is in his tattoos.

There’s a pair of boxing gloves (a nod to his pugilist grandfather), a pair of cher­ubs (in tribute to his grandparents, who featured them on their wedding cake), a stargazer lily (his grandmother’s favourite flower) and the words: “Every road will take you home.”

He also has three black dots – one for each of his three siblings, Lewis, Jasmine and Stacey. And there’s a large sailing ship, in tribute to his hometown, Portsmouth. So it’s understandable that he chooses to help a family charity such as Make-A-Wish. Indeed, back at Hoar Cross Hall, the footballer is clearly enjoying his time with the kids. He is especially complimentary of young Cooper.

“He is living proof that even in extreme adversity, with everything he’s been through in his short life, a positive mental attitude can enable you to enjoy your life and it’s humbling to witness,” adds Mount.

“Seeing how happy he is makes me happy and going forward, whatever I do in my life, having this memory of spending this time with him means so much to me. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in his life. He tells me he wants to be a goalkeeper, so who knows?”

Whether or not he starts his own family in the future, Mount, who recently began dating US model Claire Grossman, is adamant he’ll take his positive experience with Make-A-Wish into the new season.

“Having a family is something I’d probably like to do in the future, but I haven’t thought about it too much yet,” he smiles. “I’m just happy I’ve used some of my down time before the new season to see the smile on Cooper’s face and to watch his and all the other children’s reactions.

“It’s been an incredibly emotional experience but also an incredibly worthwhile one.”

• Disney UK, Make-A-Wish and The Kentown Wizard Foundation joined forces to deliver A Disney Wish for more than 160 children living with critical illness. Visit make-a-wish.org.uk for more information