Ed Sheeran performing at Eden Park on Friday. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
Ed Sheeran performing at Eden Park on Friday. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
The black Hummer arrived, the red carpet was rolled out and 8-year-old Lachie Love got to tick the Ed Sheeran concert off his very special bucket list.
On Friday night English pop-star Ed Sheeran and the team at Eden Park gave music lover Lachie a night to remember with rock star treatment from start to finish.
The Auckland schoolboy was in December last year diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).
His parents, Andy and Liesje Love, are committed to making this year the best ever for their elder son, with a list that includes swimming with the sharks at Kelly Tarlton’s and visiting Harry Potter World.
Lachie Love (right) and brother Harry wave from the red carpet at the Ed Sheeran concert on Friday night.
“It was such a great night and everything was taken care of,” Liesje told the Herald.
“They arranged a black Hummer there, a limo home and goody bags there with t-shirts, hats and mugs.”
Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner said that when he read Lachie Love’s story in the Herald it hit home with him and he wanted to help make one of his dreams come true.
The team at Eden Park and other businesses worked on giving the little boy a night to remember.
Lachie Love (centre) and his younger brother Harry got to meet rugby legend Dan Carter in the World Cup Lounge at Eden Park.
“The Ed Sheeran concert was special for many reasons, and seeing Lachie and his family enjoying the biggest crowd since the Rugby World Cup 2011 Final was uplifting,” Sautner said.
“We are all very passionate about providing an enjoyable experience and know the value that live events can provide.”
Lachie and his family were hosted in the fully catered World Cup Lounge with a grandstand view of the centre stage.
As well as rubbing shoulders with well-known New Zealanders such as Dan Carter, Love was also given the star treatment by Eden Park staff with food, drinks and snacks provided.
A police officer on patrol made a cameo appearance with Love on a 360-degree photo booth platform.
Senior Constable Sarah Su from the Counties Manukau Police District showed her creative talent on the 360-degree platform as Love posed with her.
“That was pretty cool and you can see from the video Lachie loves the attention - he loves being on stage.”
Just after his devastating diagnosis in December his aunty, Liesje’s sister Nikki Donkin set up a Givealittle page to raise money so Leisje and Andy could spend as much time as possible with Lachie and make some of his dreams come true.
“Lachie is a big personality and he loves music,” Nikki said.
“We had a karaoke party recently and he was up past midnight singing to Guns N’ Roses and Imagine Dragons with the adults.”
As well as the Ed Sheeran concert, Lachie is keen to see country singer Blake Shelton.
The family are hoping that might happen when they take him to Universal Studios or Harry Potter World in Florida in the coming months.
His list also includes visiting Queenstown, feeding capybaras and lemurs, going on a seaplane, hiring a movie theatre for a night with his friends, and like any kid obsessed with YouTube, staying at the Atlantis, Paradise Island - a lush oceanside resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
The recent school holidays saw Lachie tick off a horse-riding adventure, a visit to Hobbiton, an afternoon at a cat cafe and a day at the Rotorua Luge, topped off with ice cream for dinner at the Skyline buffet.
A horseriding adventure has also been ticked off Lachie Love's bucket list.
So far more than $100,000 has been donated through the Givealittle page.
The money will also be used to explore all available treatment options, including clinical trials.
DIPG cancer is a fast-growing tumour that forms in the brain stem and cannot be removed by surgery. DIPGs spread to nearby tissue and are hard to treat.
At the moment Lachie is undergoing radiation therapy five times a week.
He knows he has “an egg in his head affecting his vision” but his parents are protecting him from the enormity of what he is facing because of his young age.
“He is just enjoying all of the activities,” Liesje said.
