A battling mother from New South Wales’ mid-north coast has come out in support of former Australia vice-captain, David Warner, who was found to be the chief instigator in the ball-tampering scandal that shook the entire cricket fraternity last month.

The lady named Chris Vincent has two sons and both of them are suffering from a rare disease which requires heart transplantation for survival. Earlier this year, while they were waiting for a heart in Sydney, Vincent took her 19-year-old son Jesse to the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the Aussie cricket team in training. It was then Warner had met with Jesse and encouraged him with his kind words.

“When David Warner heard that Jesse was running out of time for a life-saving heart transplant, he took Jesse aside and spent at least 20 minutes with him. There were no cameras around… no fanfare… he just seemed a down to earth, compassionate fellow Australian and family man concerned about my son’s fate,” Chris Vincent told Channel  9.

“It really touched Jesse and in February, he was lucky enough to receive a new heart. David Warner found out about it and sent him an email expressing his happiness that Jesse’s life had been saved. He didn’t have to spare his time to send well wishes to a kid he met once… but he did.

“But before everyone passes judgement, I believe the true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. As in my son’s case, he couldn’t have done more to lift his spirits that day and we are so very grateful,” she added.

Warner was handed a 12-month suspension by Cricket Australia following their investigation into the matter. Besides Warner, CA had imposed severe punishments on former Australia skipper Steve Smith and rookie opener Cameron Bancroft as well. While Smith was banned for one-year, Bancroft was barred from international cricket for a period of 9-month. 

Following his return to South Africa, Warner broke down during the press conference in Sydney while stating that he might never get a chance to represent Australia again. The southpaw had repeatedly said he is taking full responsibility for his part in this disgraceful episode.