Coronavirus: Gareth Bale makes 'fantastic' donation to Cardiff hospital

Madrid, April 23: Gareth Bale and his wife Emma have donated £500,000 to a hospital in his hometown of Cardiff to help the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The Cardiff and Vale Health Charity made the announcement on Wednesday (April 22), revealing the couple dedicated funds to the University Hospital of Wales, where the Wales captain was born.

It has been requested the money be put towards "the response to COVID-19", with the focus of this particular charity being on "providing those extras for staff and patients that normal NHS funding doesn’t provide."

In a pre-recorded video, Real Madrid forward Bale said: "Hi everyone, I just wanted to record this video to thank everyone in the NHS for all their hard work and sacrifice during this COVID-19 crisis.

"The University Hospital of Wales holds a special place in my heart – it was where I was born, and it has provided great support to my friends, family and the wider community, so me and my family would like to show our support.

Our @Health_Charity the official charity of @cv_uhb would like to thank Wales and Real Madrid football legend, Gareth Bale and his wife Emma for their huge £500,000 donation to the University Hospital of Wales. @GarethBale11
Read more here: https://t.co/NPkxZ8ZKzx pic.twitter.com/E9NQnTJRMQ

— Cardiff & Vale UHB (@CV_UHB) April 22, 2020

"Keep up the good work – you're doing an amazing job and thank you very much."

Len Richards, CEO of the charity's board added: "I'd like to say a big thank you to Gareth, Emma and their family for this fantastic donation.

"It's so heartening to hear they have chosen to give something back to their local hospital to say thank you for the services both them, their family and friends have received and to recognise all the hard work the staff and all at the hospital are doing at this very difficult time.

"I would also like to say that gestures like this are testament to the fantastic work that our clinical and support colleagues carry out every day. Thank you so much."

The United Kingdom is one of the world's worst-affected nations during the pandemic, with 18,100 recorded deaths.