Let's Back Zac: Superstar guitarist Mark Knopfler boosts brave Broseley four-year-old's fund
A campaign to raise funds for a four-year-old with a rare form of leukaemia has a new backer – superstar guitarist Mark Knopfler.
The Dire Straits lead man is backing Broseley's Zac Oliver, whose family is trying to raise £500,000 to get to Philadelphia for specialist CAR-T therapy unavailable on the NHS.
Knopfler, whose second solo album was called Sailing to Philadelphia, gave his blessing to the campaign and made a donation.
Mark Garbett, Zac's dad, said they had been overwhelmed to hear of the superstar's support.
He said: "It's absolutely amazing news that someone so big and well-known, someone who has a lot of things on his plate, can get involved in our cause.
"My mom and dad are really big fans of Dire Straits. I grew up on his music."
See also:
As well as support from Knopfler, hundreds of people around the county and beyond and have been donating to the cause.
This weekend Zac will have his own moment in the spotlight – walking onto the pitch with AFC Telford United ahead of their Saturday game.
The football team have already shown their support for the youngster, turning their Twitter profile page to red and sharing links to his JustGiving page.
Nearly £85,000 has been raised through crowdfunding and through text donations so far.
Zac's mum, Hannah Oliver-Willets, said they had been blown away by the generosity of the public.
Crowdfunding
She said the level of donations has given them hope and allowed her to smile again.
She said: "It is overwhelming and it is just absolutely astonishing to think these people are donating.
"We are extremely grateful for all the very kind donations, from £1 up to £20,000, it has been an amazing response.
"It has given us some hope and happiness at the same time because we think we can achieve this.
"To be able to smile, I have gone through months of just crying every day. I still cry most days but at least I can be a bit happier now I think we are getting the opportunity to raise this money, and it is the public that have done that."
Dozens of schools and businesses across the county will be wearing red on September 28 to help raise further funds.
How YOU can help
Anyone who wants to support the fundraising campaign should visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zac-oliver
Anyone donating is asked to make sure they post a picture of themselves wearing red on September 28 on Facebook or Twitter with the hastag #wearredforzac
People can also join Zac's Facebook support page which is called 'Zachariah's's fight against Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia'.
People can also donate using their mobile phone by texting ZACH75 £1 to 70070.
The Wear Red for Zac campaign has been launched by Zac's family and friends, and aims to raise money and awareness through social media and crowdfunding.
People can pay a pound towards Zac and are asked to share a picture of themselves wearing red on social media with the hashtag #wearredforzac.
Zac was diagnosed on May 18, and in the months since thousands of people have shown their support.
His family have said the support has been unbelievable.
Without the fundraising Zac will only be eligible for CAR-T therapy in the UK if he relapses, at which point he would be expected to go into a rapid decline – a situation his mother Hannah Oliver-Willets is determined to prevent.
She said: "The alternative is to stay on chemotherapy and wait for him to relapse and then in the UK he is eligible for CAR-T therapy. But the problem with his condition is if a child relapses they have a rapid decline.
"We are not prepared to wait for him to relapse."
