When Billy became England’s mascot
Billy Thompson is five in April and he and his sister Maddie, who’s six, were celebrating early as they went out as mascots with England captain Jamie George before England beat Wales 16-14 at Twickenham in the Guinness Six Nations.
Billy, who has a brain tumour, and Maddie love rugby and their dad, Jamie, is a senior player and coach at Effingham and Leatherhead RFC, the club and rugby family fundraising for this lovely little boy.
What Billy’s family hadn’t expected was Jamie George to insist on pushing Billy out in his buggy before his first home match in charge. Having heard of Billy’s story, the England captain found him pitch-side before the game to chat to Billy and Maddie.
Then in the players’ tunnel, he reassured Billy before pushing him out onto the pitch for the anthems, and then pushing him back to his dad who was waiting beside the pitch.
Said Billy’s dad: “We want to give a huge heartfelt thank you to Jamie and everyone who made this happen. Billy was so happy and Jamie George – what a hero – with everything he had on his plate, to do what he did was just remarkable. We are eternally grateful to him for making those memories for us.”
