FORMER Sunderland and Republic of Ireland footballer Niall Quinn has opened a children's hospital clinic named after him.
The centre forward returned to the region to open the children's outpatient facility at City Hospital Sunderland.
The facility was named after him after his donation of £500,000 from his testimonial match in 2002.
The striker signed autographs and football shirts as scores of fans turned up to wish him well, then launched balloons to open the facility.
The Niall Quinn Children's Centre was developed following Niall's decision to split proceeds from his £1m testimonial match at the Stadium of Light between City Hospitals Sunderland and Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin. He donated another £100,000 to a charity helping street children in India.
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