Youngsters to tackle rugby stars for charity

A GROUP of young rugby players are taking on a team of Scottish international legends in a charity match organised by a teenage cancer sufferer.

The young players will be up against rugby giants including Scott Hastings, Rowen Shepherd, Craig Chalmers and Duncan Hodge in a match to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The fundraising game has been organised by 18-year-old Kyle McPherson, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma – a cancer of the lymphatic system – when he was 15.

The sports fanatic has worked hard to build up his fitness levels since his chemotherapy ended and can't wait to get stuck into a game against his heroes.

Kyle, from Silverknowes, said: "I've been playing rugby since I was about six or seven and was a big fan of Rowen Shepherd years ago so it will be an interesting game.

"I'm not really nervous about it at the moment but nearer the time I'll be thinking 'these guys have played against the best in the world'.

"But we are taking it as a friendly because we don't want anyone to get injured."

Kyle, who is studying sports coaching at Telford College, came up with the idea after a similar fundraising exercise was organised between young and older players while he was having chemotherapy.

He decided he wanted to take it to the next level and get some of the greatest Scottish rugby players on board in order to raise as much money as possible for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The Trust is aiming to raise £1 million by the end of next year to part-fund a new unit for teenagers recovering from cancer at the Sick Kids Hospital.

Two rooms with a bed each, soft furnishings and entertainment equipment will offer youngsters aged 13 to 18 somewhere to go during their long rehabilitation.

Kyle hopes his teenagers versus Scottish legends game, on August 24 at the Royal High School, will become an annual feature.

The teenager, who plays for Royal High Corstorphine, still goes for yearly check-ups at the hospital, but is otherwise fighting fit.

He said: "I'm the kind of person who will give any sport a try.

"I had to go through six months of chemotherapy and had to give up sports during that time, which was the hardest thing I have ever done because I was itching to play.

"I just wanted to get back to it but if I had taken a hard tackle while I was on chemotherapy, it could have caused a serious haemorrhage.

"A couple of days before my last chemo, I went out training and wasn't even able to manage half a lap, but now I'm fitter than I ever was before."

Lynne McNicoll, who has been raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust for the past few years, said: "We would like to do this annually.

"As a very first event, it's always hard to know what you're going to raise, but I would like to raise thousands of pounds from this.

"We still need to raise a million by the end of next year for the unit."

She added that the trust was also trying to get some players from the current Scottish team to go along and watch the game.

• www.teenagecancertrust.org