WARRIORS legend Chris Pennell admitted news of Worcester schoolboy Oscar Saxelby-Lee’s plight had brought Sixways stars “down to earth”.

Pennell was one of five Premiership aces to help raise funds for Ronald McDonald House, the charity helping Oscar’s family while he goes through stem cell transplant and extensive treatment for leukaemia, at an event held at Pitmaston Primary School last week.

The five-year-old Pitmaston pupil went through his seventh round of full-body radiotherapy yesterday with further preparatory treatments to follow before his transplant next week.

Despite his ordeal, videos on his Facebook page – Hand in Hand for Oscar – shows him in good spirits with hospital staff, prompting a series of supportive messages from an army of followers.

Players Ben Te'o, Chris Pennell, Duncan Weir, Dean Hammond and Jack Singleton played tag rugby and other games with children at Pitmaston, who donated to wear sports kits for an afternoon of fun with their heroes last Thursday.

“When you have families going through tough times locally, the story touches everybody,” said Pennell.

“At times you can live in a bit of a bubble in professional sport and news like this can bring you back down to earth a little bit.

“It makes you realise the really important things in life, we are incredibly lucky to do what we do and events such as these do a great job of bringing together the community to help families going through such difficulties.”

The event raised £511.10 for Ronald McDonald House on the day, the charity that provides free accommodation for the families of children in hospital.

“Credit to Pitmaston and the staff for putting on such a great event for a very worthy cause, helping to support Oscar and his family as much as we can,” Pennell added.

“It is an incredible effort from the school and I think it would be fair to say they all had a brilliant time.

“Everyone took part and that was fantastic. We sometimes only get to go around two or three classes at events like these and don’t always get the chance to meet all the kids. To have this opportunity was pretty special.”