Football fan trolled online after viral video invited to Wembley after fundraising surge
- 8 months ago
A football fan who was trolled after a pre-match interview viewed 25 million times has seen a surge in fundraising donations and has been invited to Wembley.
Nathan West, 31, went viral after he gave an interview to The Pink Un, a Norwich City football news site, that was uploaded onto social media platform X.
The video, in which he discusses his predictions before the team's match with Millwall on Sunday, prompted some anonymous users to criticise his appearance
But generous fans since rallied around the Norwich City supporter and he's received overwhelmingly positive feedback and an unexpected windfall for charity.
His fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support - for whom he is running a half marathon - is now sat at over £43,000 after strangers shared his fundraising page.
And Wembley Stadium have also offered him England tickets for a match at the ground and Norwich FC forward Jonathan Rowe said he will send him a signed shirt.
Nathan, of Earsham, Norfolk, said: "The abuse is just small-minded people, it doesn’t bother me.
"I'm just so happy that the football community has my back.
"I’ve calmed down now, but yesterday I was so overwhelmed and couldn't believe it really."
Chris Reeve, co-host of YouTube channel Talk Norwich City, contacted Nathan to thank him for predicting Rowe would score as it prompted him to put a bet on.
He offered to buy Nathan a crate of beer but he turned it down in lieu of a donation to his fundraiser, which Chris shared with his 25,000 followers.
Nathan launched the fundraiser for the cancer charity in July this year for people to sponsor him when he runs the Tonbridge half marathon in Kent in October.
He only expected to raise around £500, but it has reached now 86 times his target and still rising.
Nathan added: "Chris Reeve said he owed me a crate of beers for me predicting Rowe to score as he had Rowe to score in a bet, I said no thanks to the beers and please donate to my fundraiser.
“He whacked his bet winnings in which was £60 to get me to £500 and shared the link and it’s gone mental.
"I was only hoping for £500, which I thought would be achievable as I started the fundraiser in July and am doing the run in October, and it’s gone absolutely crazy.
"My grandad passed away when I was seven from cancer and my other nan had pancreas cancer a few years ago, so this charity meant the most to me.
"And so many people know somebody affected by cancer so it relates to so many people."
Visit www.justgiving.com/page/nathan-west-tonbridge-half-marathon-2023 to support Nathan's fundraiser.
Nathan West, 31, went viral after he gave an interview to The Pink Un, a Norwich City football news site, that was uploaded onto social media platform X.
The video, in which he discusses his predictions before the team's match with Millwall on Sunday, prompted some anonymous users to criticise his appearance
But generous fans since rallied around the Norwich City supporter and he's received overwhelmingly positive feedback and an unexpected windfall for charity.
His fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support - for whom he is running a half marathon - is now sat at over £43,000 after strangers shared his fundraising page.
And Wembley Stadium have also offered him England tickets for a match at the ground and Norwich FC forward Jonathan Rowe said he will send him a signed shirt.
Nathan, of Earsham, Norfolk, said: "The abuse is just small-minded people, it doesn’t bother me.
"I'm just so happy that the football community has my back.
"I’ve calmed down now, but yesterday I was so overwhelmed and couldn't believe it really."
Chris Reeve, co-host of YouTube channel Talk Norwich City, contacted Nathan to thank him for predicting Rowe would score as it prompted him to put a bet on.
He offered to buy Nathan a crate of beer but he turned it down in lieu of a donation to his fundraiser, which Chris shared with his 25,000 followers.
Nathan launched the fundraiser for the cancer charity in July this year for people to sponsor him when he runs the Tonbridge half marathon in Kent in October.
He only expected to raise around £500, but it has reached now 86 times his target and still rising.
Nathan added: "Chris Reeve said he owed me a crate of beers for me predicting Rowe to score as he had Rowe to score in a bet, I said no thanks to the beers and please donate to my fundraiser.
“He whacked his bet winnings in which was £60 to get me to £500 and shared the link and it’s gone mental.
"I was only hoping for £500, which I thought would be achievable as I started the fundraiser in July and am doing the run in October, and it’s gone absolutely crazy.
"My grandad passed away when I was seven from cancer and my other nan had pancreas cancer a few years ago, so this charity meant the most to me.
"And so many people know somebody affected by cancer so it relates to so many people."
Visit www.justgiving.com/page/nathan-west-tonbridge-half-marathon-2023 to support Nathan's fundraiser.