Former Dundee striker Ian Fleming has fought many a battle on the pitch, but he admits he has been almost reduced to tears by the generosity of others as he and his family prepare for the biggest fight of their lives so far.
His twin granddaughters Ayley and Chloe Hirsch both suffer from cerebral palsy and will be wheelchair-bound unless his daughter Averil and her partner Frazer can raise £80,000 to send them to the US for life-changing surgery that is not available on the NHS.
The 58-year-old, who also had spells with Aberdeen FC, Sheffield Wednesday and Kilmarnock FC, has decided to use his football contacts to benefit the girls as he prepares for a sportsman’s dinner in the Station Hotel in Carnoustie on April 23.
Guest of honour will be close friend and Forfar Athletic manager Dick Campbell, who has insisted on making an official appearance despite battling kidney cancer.
Ian said, “It’s absolutely fantastic that he is still going to do this for us.
“He agreed to it a while back but then he broke it to me that he had cancer, which was awful.”
He added, “I’ve been friendly with him for years so I was obviously very upset when he told me.”
Ian said, “I left it up to him and I told him that if he wasn’t up to speaking at the dinner I still really wanted him to come.
“But he was quite insistent that he was going to do it that’s just the way he is.”
Ex-footballer and athlete George McNeill will also speak and items up for auction include a holiday in Florida and an autographed Scotland strip.
Ian and wife Suzanne recently joined Arbroath FC’s all-time top scorer Jimmy Jack and his wife Ruth for a bucket collection outside Toys R Us at Kingsway West Retail Park, Dundee raising hundreds of pounds in just a few hours.
Ian said, “The generosity of some people has just been mind-boggling.
“There was even one wee girl who couldn’t have been any older than nine or 10 and she came and put a pound in our bucket I could have cried.”