How the ‘wonderful’ heavyweight world champion made a detour to brighten the day of someone whose health held them from attending his event.
John Cornelius Shortall (right) was surprised with a visit from heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno(Image: Dan Horrocks)
Mates have their unique ways of looking after you in dark times. One ‘jovial Rochdale lad,’ whose battle with cancer left him too sick to go out, had a quiet day at home flipped on its head when his friend brought 1995’s heavyweight world title winner Frank Bruno into his living room.
The friend in question was Dan Horrocks. The 47 year old had found himself at Manchester Golf Club, where Jolly Josh, a local Castleton charity specialising in helping children with ‘complex medical needs or physical disabilities’, was hosting an event. The star guest of the evening was 90s boxing legend Bruno.
Bruno remains a household name for Dan’s generation. Having fought Mike Tyson on two occasions, and honoured with an MBE, the world champion spends his retirement as a mental health advocate.
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While Dan was elated to be meeting one of his heroes, he couldn’t stop thinking about his homebound terminally ill friend, John Cornelius Shortall.
“He’s recently been told he’s got weeks, not months left to live, in a very short time. It’s very sad to see,” Dan explained.
The IT worker describes his 69-year-old friend as ‘a well known figure in the community.’ A bus driver and property developer ‘of jovial, funny character, with loads of friends.’
“John’s always cracking jokes. When he told me in April three and a half years ago that he had terminal cancer, I cried my eyes out down the phone to him. I was crying for about a day to be honest, I was devastated,” Dan said.
“He deals with it through humour, fun and laughter, just taking the p*** out of people and taking the micky out of himself. Even now he’s in pain and he’s still using sarcasm and laughter to get his way through it. Probably one of the bravest men I know.”
During a photo opportunity with the boxing world giant, Dan threw in a ‘cheeky’ a shot in the dark, on the off-chance he could make his friend’s day:
“I said to Frank, I hope you don’t think I’m rude or putting you on the spot or anything, but (John) probably would have loved to come to this event to meet you, and obviously he’s not strong enough to make it now.”
Dan explained that John, who’s a fan of boxing and rugby, only lives a ten minute drive down the road, inquiring if Frank Bruno could make the stop later.
“I was directed to his security driver, a guy called Paul, who was also lovely, so I explained my story to him and he said that if Frank said he’ll do it, then he’ll do it 100 per cent. ‘What Frank says he’s gonna do, he does.’ I was over the moon!
“An hour later after Frank’s done his jig, the guy Paul put his head through the door, gave me the wink, and suddenly I’m in the back of Frank’s car with his chauffer, driving to my friend’s house!”
Dan (left) with Frank Bruno (middle) and John (right)(Image: Dan Horrocks)
To make sure the star-studded visit wouldn’t be an intrusion on John and his wife Teresa, Dan had rang his friend up in advance, but he didn’t get the impression that they believed him.
With John’s condition meaning ‘people were in and out of his house all the time,’ the married couple was sat with a mutual friend, John’s carer Jade, and some neighbours when Dan ran into their front room.
“I said ‘Frank’s here, I’ve just got to let him in,’ and when he actually walked into the room, the faces were very funny, like their jaws had dropped on the floor.”
The spontaneous detour paid off as a ‘lovely moment,’ with Frank Bruno’s ‘flamboyant red suit’ especially creating a bonding moment between John and the boxing champ.
“My friend also loves flamboyant suits, so soon as he shook hands with Frank he’s getting his phone out showing him all the pictures of him in his own suits. Frank’s got a very very infectious laugh, if you can Google his laugh you’ll immediately get where I’m coming from, and my friend John had Frank laughing quite a bit!”
John taking the opportunity to show Frank Bruno photos of his own flamboyant suits(Image: Dan Horrocks)
Dan emphasised what a ‘wonderful wonderful man’ Frank Bruno had been, treasuring the experience:
“The fact that Frank had taken his time to go see my friend was just wonderful, guy’s an absolute legend. He had to get to Mottram Hall, which was on the other side of town, so it was gonna be another hour and a half on his evening, he had to get up early the next day, so for him to just take a detour and come and see my friend like that… Incredible experience.
“John’s been sending the pictures to lots of our friends and community, so he’s obviously over the moon about it all!”