England professional footballer Jack Grealish has donated £500 to a GoFundMe page set up to support the family of James 'Jim' Henderson who was killed in Gaza.
James aged 33, died alongside John Chapman, 57, and James Kirby, 47 on April 1 after their aid convoy was struck by Israeli missiles as they provided security for the World Central Kitchen charity. Four aid workers also died in the strike.
The GoFundMe page was set up by Jordan Mcgrath to raise £20,000 to support the family of Mr Henderson from Penryn.
The GoFundMe page can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/marine-james-henderson
Mr Henderson, a former Royal Marine, was described in the appeal by Mr McGrath as: “A selfless giant, who all throughout his life strived to be the best in everything he did, weather that was in the military, rugby, private security, or providing help for the less fortunate.
“This page has been created for people to show their support to Jim’s family at the most difficult of times. All donations will be given to the Henderson family to help and support them during this period.
“From all of Jim’s friends and especially his family we would like to thank you in advance for your kind donations.”
Following the launch of the appeal, which has so far raised over £10,000, one of the first people to donate was England International and Man City winger Jack Grealish who gave £500.
Following the huge response to the appeal, which was only launched three days ago, Mr McGrath said in a follow up post on the site.
“On behalf of the Henderson family I’d like to thank everyone who has given a donation so far, your kindness in showing support at this difficult time is very much appreciated, and we’re completely overwhelmed. Thank you again for spreading and sharing this page.”
Mr Henderson was a popular figure in Penryn, playing for Penryn Rugby Club who paid tribute to him in Facebook post.
It has been reported that Mr Henderson had been travelling in a clearly marked car operated by World Central Kitchen (WCK), a charity providing meals to Palestinians, when the convoy was hit by three missiles fired from an IDF drone.
The convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid taken to Gaza on the maritime route, the charity said.
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Also dying in the attack were the team’s leader, 43-year-old Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom, an Australian national, along with American-Canadian dual citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33, Polish national Damian Sobol, 35, and Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25.
WCK immediately suspended operations in the region.
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