Sterling to pay for fan’s funeral

RAHEEM STERLING is paying for the funeral of Damary Dawkins, the teenager he supported through a battle with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Dawkins found a stem cell donor through the world register following a campaign aided by Manchester City winger Sterling but died last month after a relapse. Sterling plans to attend the 13-year-old’s funeral in Dagenham on Friday. ‘Damary was a special young man who touched a lot of lives, including my own,’ Sterling said. ‘Positive until the end, he was an example to us all.’ The 24-year-old visited Dawkins at University College Hospital in London before Christmas after City’s Champions League trip to Lyon. The pair became close and the family thanked the City attacker for being generous with his time. Sterling also paid tribute to Dawkins with a T-shirt message after scoring in England’s 5-0 win over the Czech Republic at Wembley last month. The Crystal Palace trainee’s father, Tony, said: ‘They used to speak because (Sterling) came to the hospital and apparently they swapped numbers. ‘When Crystal Palace played Manchester City and they lost, Damary put on his tracksuit with the Crystal Palace badge and took a picture to send to Raheem. They had banter with each other. ‘(The shirt tribute) was very, very touching and fitting. I know Damary touched his heart.’