Andy Murray Makes Two Wishes Come True

Amongst all of the sports articles on here, most of them seem to be about how a player is doing, what a team needs, who is performing and who is not. I thought that I would take the time to point out the other part of a sports player's job, which is being an influence and inspiration to fans.

As a fan of Andy Murray, I, along with others, often hear from his critics. Many of them are English tennis fans, but I see them as just tennis fans. It's about the people who watch Wimbledon and forget that tennis exists for another year.

Today, I read a nice piece on Andy Murray about his charity work during the Wimbledon Championships. He worked with the Make-A-Wish foundation to give two teenagers the "days of their lives."

15-year-old Thys Kroezen (pictured above) and 17-year-old Christine McLinn had the opportunity to meet Murray through the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Thys, from the Netherlands, is battling Osteosarcoma, which is a type of bone cancer. Due to his illness, he was forced to have his left arm amputated. He is an avid tennis fan and a keen playing enthusiast. Meeting Murray, while receiving centre court tennis tickets, filled a dream that Thys had.

After the tournament, Thys took the time to send the Murray family a letter to thank them.

"Thank you so much for arranging our tickets, and the great meet with your son Andy during our visit at Wimbledon," Thys stated. "We enjoyed it so much, and you have helped make a wish come true."

Christine, who is fighting Hodgkins disease, has played tennis since she was six-years-old and managed to win a local tennis tournament in Wisconsin. Her favorite player is Serena Williams.

Both Thys and Christine were given tickets to a day's play on centre court as well as having a 30-minute sit and talk with Andy Murray, where he presented them with signed items. He also took photos and talked about tennis and the Wimbledon Championships.

"It's has been one of the most exciting of our lives and particularly for Christine because tennis got her through chemotherapy, and that makes it all the more touching," Christine's mother explained.

This is one side of sports personalities that don't get enough attention. We always hear of any incidents with the law, any outbursts on the court or negative comments to the press.

However I feel that it is time that we started taking more notice of just how much they do within the community and for selected charities.

This goes for all tennis players and other sports personalities all across the world.