Knights player escorts sick teen to formal

Jul 20, 2017 - 6:23 AM Details have emerged of the night a terminally ill teenager was escorted to her school formal by NRL player Trent Hodkinson.

The Newcastle Knights halfback took the arm of Hannah Rye, 15, on Wednesday for her Year 10 winter formal at Kurri Kurri High School in NSW's Hunter region.

The pair have been close since meeting at John Hunter Children's Hospital in 2016, with Hodkinson dedicating his conversions in round three of that NRL season to Hannah as part of his 'Tren7's Kick for Kids' initiative.

School principal Tracey Breese said the event was specifically arranged due to the seriousness of Hannah's Ewing sarcoma cancer diagnosis, given "she will not be here" for the traditional end-of-year formal.

"She was floating, just floating. She said at the end of the night 'I just don't want it to end'," Breese said.

"Trent was just the consummate gentleman.

"She's very fragile so he was there to help steer her and support her the whole time he was there."

Hodkinson and Hannah cut a cake donated by a local bakery and posed for photos in front of a backdrop made of 1000 paper cranes folded by the teenager's schoolmates to honour her love of Japanese culture.

"They cut the cake together, he assisted her to sit with her friends, then he quietly just slipped out," Breese said.

Hodkinson made the decision himself to step up and escort the avid Knights fan.

"He's been close to the family the whole way along and when he found out that she was this ill, he made contact with the family," Breese said.

"We don't always give good raps to our NRL players but his capacity and humanity in that moment was outstanding."

Source: AAP