Fundraiser surpasses £8,000 for seriously injured Leeds United fan

A JustGiving page for seriously injured Leeds United supporter Ed O’Brien has raised more than £8,000 at the time of writing as fellow fans show their support.

O’Brien, 23, was seriously injured after falling from a tree in Millennium Square during Leeds’ open-top bus title parade on Monday. Police later confirmed they are carrying out enquiries into the incident, which they say happened at around 4.10pm, with the man in a ‘serious but stable condition’.

In a Facebook post shared by Joe Rodon’s brother, Sam, on X, O’Brien’s mother explained how her son was taken to Leeds General Infirmary immediately after the incident, where he remains in a coma. She clarified O’Brien is still alive and the prognosis is unclear, adding: “What is certain is that, any recovery at all from this incident is likely to be a slow and lengthy process and is unlikely to be without implications.”

A JustGiving page was set up by Harvey Rushton with the target of raising £750. The page’s story said: “To Support Ed O’Brien and his family after Ed sadly fell out of a tree when celebrating Leeds winning the league on Monday and now is sadly fighting for his life in hospital his mum and dad both live in York and at this time it will be costing them both a lot in travel and time off work so I am just hoping we can all raise some money to take that stress away from them. MOT stay strong ED”.

As of 9am on Thursday morning, the page has raised £8,441 through a total of 507 donations. Alongside many of the kind donations are messages from fans, with someone by the name of Elaine writing: “My thoughts and prayers are with you all at this tragic time”. Another individual called Jamie Gill wrote: “Best wishes to Ed and his family and friends and all of us Leeds fans are praying for a speedy recovery Marching on together”.

Well-known Leeds-based band Skylights shared the page on their X account, writing: “On Monday at the Leeds United Parade, a good mate of ours was badly hurt. Ed is a great lad, and we're all rooting for him right now. If you can spare anything to help, it would be massively appreciated.”

Leeds United minority shareholder Larry Nance donated £2,000 to the page, having shown a similar act of incredible kindness to help with a visually impaired supporters’ housing nightmare.

O’Brien’s mother requested an end to social media speculation surrounding her son, adding: “For those who have simply messaged to say they’re thinking of him, that they are praying for him, thank you. He needs all the prayers and luck in the world right now, we all do. I’m hoping he shows the same resilience, the same strength, the same character we’ve all come to know and love him for in the coming days/weeks and months ahead”.

For those wanting to donate, the JustGiving page can be found HERE.