GERMAN snooker fan Christine Pagel saw her pilgrimage to the Crucible to watch the World Championship for a fortnight interrupted in very unfortunate circumstances after being diagnosed with kidney stones and admitted to the high dependency unit at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.
Her condition required an emergency operation – but Christine had a welcome boost when former Crucible finalist Nigel Bond, based in Chesterfield, and MC Rob Walker dropped in for a visit on the Friday of the second week.
Bond said: "Christine has obviously been through a tough time and I hope she now makes a full recovery. She is clearly a huge snooker fan as she's come over from Germany to see virtually the whole tournament. Luckily the staff at the Royal Hallamshire are looking after her so well and she even has a TV in her room so she can still watch the snooker! The least we could do was to drop in and say hello."
World Snooker has also pledged to give Christine free tickets for a day at next year's World Championship in Sheffield.
Photograph courtesy of World Snooker