Sport

Man battling cancer fulfils dream of meeting Tiger Woods thanks to incredible social media effort

Picture:
Picture:
Jordan Miller/ Twitter

Meeting a person that you have admired or idolised for years can often be a dream come true.

Shane Caldwell of Columbia, South Carolina, is a huge golf fanatic who has been a lifelong fan of the world famous Tiger Woods.

Sadly, Shane is suffering from Stage 4 lung cancer - but this didn't stand in the way of him realising his dream of meeting the three-time Grand Slam winner.

Seeking to make this dream a reality, his step-daughter Jordan Miller took to social media to try and find a way to help Shane meet Tiger.

Initially, she went on Facebook but when the story failed to go viral. When that didn't take off she turned to Twitter instead - and things started to look more promising.

The tweet soon went viral and after a few days, she confirmed that Shane had managed to receive tickets from a family member to attend The Masters in Augusta, Georgia, which is taking place this weekend.

Speaking to Yahoo Sportson FridayJordan admitted that her tactic was to get as many people to see it as possible in the hope that someone would be able to hook them up with a contact for Tiger

She said:

What are the chances these two are going to be in the same place at the same time again?

It was such a crazy idea that I decided to go for it, and I started harassing people until I got my way.

My hope is that if we get enough attention from the right people, we may be able to surprise Shane with the opportunity to meet the golfer he idolises.

There aren’t enough words in the world to describe what it would mean to him or our family to make his dream come true.​

The fact that Shane was getting to attend one of the most prestigious golfing tournaments in the world was already great but this story got even better when Wood's girlfriend Erica Herman saw the tweet.

The 33-year-old then got in touch with Jordan who gave her stepfather's information to both Erica and the Tiger Woods Foundation, who gave them very specific details on how to meet the sports superstar.

Cut to Thursday morning and Shane was riding his blue scooter by the driving range between 9:10 and 9:15 this morning, as Jordan had been told. She added:

I didn’t tell him, because I didn’t want to get his hopes up, and I needed him to sleep that night. 

But when Erica came and stood next to him, he started to think something was up.

After Tiger finished his session on the range, he approached Shane, introducing himself and signing his golfing club writing "Stay strong - Tiger Woods, " to which Shane replied, "Knock 'em dead, Tiger!"

There were plans for Shane to met Tiger again but his health, unfortunately, took a turn for the worst and he had to leave.

However, he does have tickets for the final session of golf on Sunday so there is always a chance the two can see each other again.

Jordan said that although another meeting is unlikely, it's not going to dampen Shane's spirit.

He’s a hardcore fighter. He does not let anything get him down.

He’s selfless. He just wants people to care and treat him normally.

HT Yahoo

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