Coldplay singer Chris Martin visited a sick superfan at a local hospital before the band's concert in Manila, Philippines, on Tuesday (April 4th), according to Billboard. On his way to the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Martin stopped to spend some time with Ken Santiago, a medical student at the University of the Philippines-Manila who is suffering from stage four cancer. Santiago had hoped to attend the show that night and even bought a platinum ticket, but his current condition prevented him from going.
Ken's older brother Kheil wrote an open letter on Facebook asking for help in contacting the band to let them know about his sibling. Kheil wrote, "A week ago, he already turned over his Platinum ticket to my younger brother. He does not show he is sad, he said it's okay. But we can feel that he really wanted to be there. But due to his health condition that we cannot compromise . . . I am sending you this open letter to ask a little favor if the band could just say 'hi' or a short message for him to make him feel better."
The message went viral and eventually reached the promoter of the Coldplay concert in Manila, who helped organize Martin's visit. Although Ken was unable to speak due to his illness, he communicated with Martin using a small white board, writing, "I can't thank you enough." Martin reportedly asked Ken what song he would like the band to play at that night's concert, with Ken selecting the track "Ink" from the band's Ghost Stories album. Before he left, Martin also gave Ken his hat, plus a Coldplay shirt and bag and a copy of the band's most recent album, A Head Full Of Dreams. Coldplay plays in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday night (April 7th) and will hit Taiwan, South Korea and Japan before heading home. Extensive tours of Europe and North America will begin in June and August.