11/05/24
December 02, 2003
A British football fan was willing to give his brother stem cells to fight leukemia on several conditions: He had to change his allegiance from Manchester City to Manchester United and "chortle at regular intervals" when his old team was relegated, paint his house red, and meet other demands.
What a tosser.
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:22 PM on December 02, 2003
The fact that the asshole was a ManU fan is so appropriate. If I were his brother, I would've refused and had my death hanging on my brother's head for the rest of his life. Yeah, that may be extreme and spiteful, but so was what the donator did.
posted by Ufez Jones at 04:39 PM on December 02, 2003
I saw this the other day. My thoughts were almost exactly the same as Fat Buddha's. A question - Man United fans: are you all such scum?
posted by dng at 04:43 PM on December 02, 2003
...but take away the Man U ingredient, and that's one funny-ass story.
posted by garfield at 05:47 PM on December 02, 2003
Hilarious, and clearly tongue-in-cheek. I'd have done the same thing, except I have no idea who Manchester City or Manchester United are.
posted by wfrazerjr at 05:55 PM on December 02, 2003
I thought this was an urban myth? Whilst I hate Man U fans with all my heart, it was only a joke. Surely?
posted by squealy at 06:03 PM on December 02, 2003
I would have agreed the terms, taken the stem cells and afterwards had someone dress me in a Man City shirt for when the ManUreMan showed up for his first post-operative visit.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:18 PM on December 02, 2003
What, am I the only one who thinks that this is totally fair? What, just me and my personal slave? "chortle"?
posted by forksclovetofu at 10:59 PM on December 02, 2003
from the article: Martin, a retired management consultant from Hull, can barely suppress his mirth. "This was the perfect chance for me to get Paul to stop backing the Blues. "We made a great joke of the contract but he still agreed to sign it. I just hope now that the operation will save his life." Paul, from Co Antrim, may yet manage to wear blue again. "This is clearly torture," he said, "and torture is banned under the Human Rights Act." I think that, at least judging by this article, the younger brother is not quite the prick some of you think he is. It sounds to me that neither one of them is taking the contract as legally binding, nor that the younger brother would have refused to donate the stem cells had older brother not signed. Just a case of one of them yanking the other's chain.
posted by deadcowdan at 06:19 AM on December 03, 2003
I'm trying to think of a joke involving Man City needing more than a transplant to survive in the top flight, but I'm dry.
posted by JJ at 10:13 AM on December 03, 2003
I think its a great way of helping lighten the tension of such a serious operation - by making these ridiculous demands it suggests that live will go on in all it's stupeyfying glory. I think it's brillant, and these are two brothers who clearly love each other.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:58 AM on December 03, 2003
HA! This is great! Great publicity story that is...
posted by StarFucker at 11:09 AM on December 03, 2003
Deadcowdan, he's still a tosser.
posted by Fat Buddha at 11:49 AM on December 03, 2003
Sports fans are weird. [Great link, rcade.]