Column: Why Suarez visit meant so much

Suarez accompanied the parents of Stephen Packer, the Liverpool U9 player who passed away after a brave battle with cancer in November 2012, to the children's hospital in West Derby.

He was there to help present a cheque for £12,000, raised by Academy staff who completed a three-peaks challenge in Stephen's memory.

Suarez would go on to fire a scintillating hat-trick for the Reds against West Brom during the 4-1 demolition at Anfield on Saturday.

However, in his latest piece for Liverpoolfc.com, McParland focuses first on the No.7's inspirational actions of earlier in the week...

As some of you may already know, Alder Hey has a special link to the Academy. Our lads go in there every month to see the kids and spend time with some of the children who are being treated there.

We started this off with us going in at Christmas originally and we got a really good response from the kids. So we just felt it would be a good link for us and we wanted to do more.

Young Stephen Packer was treated there by the fantastic staff at the hospital - and we agreed with his parents that all funds raised in Stephen's name would go towards helping the brilliant work Alder Hey carry out.  

So in May, we took on the three-peaks challenge and the Academy also held a special Stephen Packer tournament, which Liverpool won, and that all raised even more money for Alder Hey.

I've been to the hospital quite a few times now and I must say, it's an incredible place.

And then you have the Packer family who, from day one, have handled themselves with such dignity and have never asked for anything from us. They've just been absolutely fabulous people to deal with under such hard circumstances.

So earlier this week, Luis Suarez went along to Alder Hey to help them present a cheque for £12,000, which he first handed over to Stephen's dad.

It makes the whole thing that extra bit special when you can get one of the top players in world football to take time out for such a poignant cause, because of the family connection that we have here between the Academy and Melwood.

Stephen's parents were delighted for Luis to be part of the presentation.

He was there, he had pictures taken with staff, with the families, with children and he threw himself into it. He didn't just go for five minutes - he stayed for quite a long time. He's a nice, down-to-earth boy, who has got kids of his own and so the empathy from him was there for all to see.

Everyone who has been involved with the Stephen Packer appeal has been humbled over the past year and it's been an honour just to be able to play a part.

Going forward we'll try and host a tournament each year from now, where we'll invite teams from Stephen's age group to come in and play in a mini competition.

But his legacy will always live on here at the Academy. There's the Stephen Packer memorial pitch at our Kirkby site and as you enter the complex and you go down the stairs, there's a massive tribute to him on the wall.

So we were delighted that Luis was able to come along and help present the cheque in Stephen's name to Alder Hey.

It showed just how humble a person he is - and then yesterday, at Anfield, we witnessed him at his very best out on the football pitch during the Reds' 4-1 win over West Brom.

What he demonstrates in every training session and every game he plays is an enthusiasm to play football. If our kids at the Academy can learn from him, that can be a massive thing for them.

Believe it or not, some people don't actually play for the love of football - they play for everything else that goes with it. But you know Luis just loves to play the game.

When I've spoken to the boss about him, he just says he's the same in every training session and every time he goes out he wants to win. He's a real fighter and that's what our kids have to take from him.

They have to look at him and try to be as passionate and determined as he is. That's the truth with him - he's just an incredible player.

Aside from his sheer enthusiasm and from a technical point of view, what he's probably as good as virtually anyone in the world at doing is working in tight situations inside the box.

You know the type of position - where he's surrounded by defenders and no matter how many there is, he knows that somehow he's going to get through. And he does it so often.

Most of his goals are like the first one he scored yesterday, rather than the headers. Goals were he somehow manages to nutmeg someone or nick it past them - and that's all down to his tenacity, pace, strength and skill in the one-v-one situations.

He creates havoc for virtually every defender he plays against and so if our young lads can emulate that, then they'll be taking a huge step in the right direction.