Oasis fan with Stage 4 cancer goes viral across social media as dreams come true
A Yorkshire man with Stage 4 cancer was left “overwhelmed” when his friends surprised him on Saturday morning with a last-minute ticket to see Oasis that night in Manchester - with a video of that moment going viral across social media in the days since.
50-year-old Lee Brown had been playing with his granddaughter in his front garden in Woodsets, Sheffield, when his best friends popped around with a gift.
Father-of-three Lee said: “All week I had been saying to my mates, ‘I can’t believe you’re going (to see Oasis at Heaton Park) without me’ - we’d had lots of banter about it because we’ve been friends for since we were eight.”
Lee knew his friends might pop round to his house before the concert to show him their tickets.
However, little did he know he would be accompanying them.
He said: “I only knew something was going on when they gave me an envelope.”
Lee posted an emotional video of his reaction on social media platform X.
He can be seen reading out the letter from his friends who used Oasis lyrics to tell them that they had secured him a ticket.
Lee said: “I was struggling to contain my emotions.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I was excited, shocked, overwhelmed, emotional.”
His two best friends and their younger sister had secretly raised money online to buy Lee a ticket.
He said: “I last saw Oasis in Chicago in 2001, 25 years ago. Tickets for Heaton Park cost £300 but in recent weeks they cost 700.”
The secret fundraiser for Lee, who spends his time travelling between hospitals in London and Sheffield in between working in mental health, raised over £800 in a few hours.
He said: “It was incredible. I just wish my 16-year-old son could have been there. We both love Sheffield Wednesday and Oasis.”
Lee, who supports people living in the community with mental health issues, was diagnosed with cancer in 2016.
“I had a tumour the size of a basketball in my stomach, then in February this year I was told it had progressed to stage 4”, he told the Yorkshire Post.
Lee said that while at first he couldn’t believe his diagnosis, he has remained positive and is determined to make memories.
“I faced it head-on,” he said.
“It was scary at the time, but I keep busy. It's unbelievable when I stop and think about it.”
Lee has been involved with a clinical trial, which has meant travelling between Sheffield and London for treatment.
He said: “I keep as active as possible to help. I like to go walking, play football, and raising money for charity.”
Since Lee’s diagnosis in 2016, he has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for cancer charities.
Previously, Lee - who had been too ill to purchase a ticket originally when the gig was announced - said his favourite Oasis song has always been Live Forever.
He said: “It’s just more poignant now.”
A lifelong Oasis fan, Lee and his family had already planned to go to a Sausage and Cider festival the following weekend to see an Oasis tribute band before he received the ticket.
The day after the gig, Lee posted a video of him receiving the ticket and later singing along to Live Forever at the concert in Manchester.
“On Sunday, I’d promised to take my partner and our mums to see the Emmerdale set even though I never watch it, but all I could think about was the night before”, he added.
“Then, when I got home, I was so touched that almost 800,000 people had seen my tweet.”
Lee is now back to his day job working in mental health and receiving treatment for his cancer.
He added: “I just hope the trial is successful and Noel and Liam see this and we get tickets for my son and I to go watch them at Wembley.”