Neil, aged 22, had been diagnosed with an aggressive tumour behind his nose and was due to undergo his first session of chemotherapy the day Rick and girlfriend Lauren brought a drum workshop into the new young people's cancer unit. Next Thursday he is set to be the guest of honour when the local rock giants return for a hometown show at Sheffield's Hallam FM Arena.
"It was only my second day on the ward and my first day of chemotherapy," Neil recalled, at home in Holmewood, near Chesterfield. "I was not a particular fan of Def Leppard but I listen to the music and being an amateur musician I have got enormous respect for Rick. He gave me inspiration not to give up."
The Def Leppard drummer stunned the music business when he overcame losing an arm in a road crash to see his band become even bigger on the global stage.
California-based Rick, whose parents still live in Stannington, has formed a charity called the Raven Drum Foundation which aims to improve lives through music therapy. Rick is also a patron of Weston Park.
"Rick rang me at the ward and I email him and his girlfriend quite often. He rang me as soon as I was in remission and was on the telephone for an hour," said Neil, of Hunloke Road.
"Rick's visit to the hospital definitely gave me a lift. He is a very genuine person. But without the nurses I would not be alive. And my mum and dad stayed in hospital overnight so I never had a chance to dwell on my illness."
Singer and guitarist Neil, who has quit his job with technology giant Siemens to concentrate on music, has since been supplied with musical equipment by Yamaha so he can take music therapy to the younger patients at Weston Park.
