A football fan who faced online harassment for his appearance fought his critics in the best way possible by running a half marathon and raising more than £60,000.
When Norwich City supporter Nathan West, 31, of Earsham, Norfolk, was interviewed by PinkUn before to the Canaries’ match against Millwall in August, trolls made fun of him.
He had previously made plans to run the Tonbridge Half Marathon in Kent for Macmillan Cancer Support with the goal of raising £500, but after receiving a barrage of internet vitriol, the fundraiser went viral and contributions poured in from all over the world.
The insulting remarks that were posted beneath the video on Twitter were initially brought to Nathan’s attention by his brother Troy.
Nathan admitted to Metro that when he initially read some of the posts the trolls had made regarding his appearance, it was a little disturbing.
But I later realized that was only a few posts from trolls, and there was nothing wrong with my appearance.
After losing his grandparents to cancer, the young man from Norfolk decided to raise money for the organization.
Nathan felt a surge of satisfaction when the entire football community began supporting him and denouncing the online haters.
I was overcome with happiness, and it all started with my fellow Norwich City FC supporters sending me messages of encouragement, he said.
“Then the entire footballing community came together with messages of support, including many foreign football fans and supporters from various clubs.”
I was astounded by all the love and support people had for me.
After co-host Chris Reeve of BBC Radio Norfolk’s fanzine program The Scrimmage told Nathan he owed him some drinks because Nathan had properly predicted that winger Jonathan Rowe would score and Norwich would defeat Millwall 3-1, the donations really began to come in.
Even Jonathan Rowe himself offered encouragement, writing: “Big up yourself for doing this interview Westy!”
Instead of buying him beer as a reward for making the right forecast, Nathan requested that Chris Reeve donate to a worthy cause.
“He donated the betting winnings put it up to £500 my target and then shared my page on Twitter and said what a legend I was for turning down the beers,” said Nathan. “From there, it just went crazy.”
The football enthusiast beat his two-hour goal by completing the half marathon in one hour, 46 minutes, and 14 seconds.
“I feel very proud to have raised all this money for a charity near and dear to my heart Macmillan Cancer Support,” Nathan continued.
‘With this money, Macmillan Cancer Support can continue providing assistance to people.
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