A RUGBY league player from Queensbury has helped raise thousands for a children's charity, in memory of the son he lost to heart complications.

Former Super League and current Halifax Panthers star Greg Worthington and wife Amy have generated over £4,000 for the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF), which supports the LGI's congenital heart unit.

On December 8, 2018, Greg and Amy sadly lost Isaac at birth to severe congenital heart defects.

Greg, 30, told the T&A: "It was the hardest thing me and my wife have been through.

"The key thing for us was the communication side of it. I bottled it up at the start and all my focus was on my wife and my family, making sure everybody around me was fine. I did not speak as soon as I should have.

"Once I opened up to my wife and we started speaking about it more often it made the grief easier. The pain is always there but you learn to talk about it, and you get some peace in talking about it.

"I took all my inspiration from my wife seeing how strong she was through a really painful time.

"It is something people go through, and we do not tend to hear about it. Hopefully, the fundraising has raised more awareness."

The Queensbury head coach and Amy only set out to raise £1,000 but have managed £4,433, at time of writing, through a range of raffles and different events.

"The feedback we have had from it has been fantastic," said Greg. "We have really been taken aback by the response.

"Hopefully more money will be raised for the charity who are doing wonderful things in the surgery they are providing for children."

Last Sunday's auction on Queensbury ARLFC's Facebook channel was kicked off by Bradford boxer Darren Tetley auctioning off his boxing kit for £200.

Then Greg, who played for the Toronto Wolfpack between 2017 and 2020, let people bid on one of his historic shirts (above).

He added: "I am always wary about auctioning off one of my shirts at the rugby club because a lot of the lads are my mates, and I would like to think a lot of them would not want one of my shirts.

"But with it being a Toronto shirt from the Super League, which ended so abruptly for the club and they no longer exists, it is probably going to be a bit of rugby memorabilia soon.

"We started the bidding off on Facebook and through the rugby Whatsapp group, it snowballed from there. The bids started coming in thick and fast.

"(Bulls player) Sam Barlow, who is a former teammate of mine at Leigh Centurions, was outbidding everyone.

"Off the back of that he put a challenge out to the rugby club saying, 'if you match what I have bid between you all, I will donate the shirt back to the club’.

"The rugby lads came together matched it and some. It was very surprising to say the shirt raise £1,400 which is phenomenal."

All the money donated will be sent to the fund on April 19, 2021 which is the same date Isaac was due two years ago.

To get involved, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/isaac-robert