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Footballer Lamine Yamal and Coldplay's Chris Martin help Polish influencer raise more than £50m for cancer patients

ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleNaomi de SouzaBBC Newsbeat ReutersPiotr Hancke is known as 'Latwogang' to his millions of followersA Polish influencer's non-stop nine-day livestream has raised more than 250 million zlotys (£50m) for a children's cancer charity.

YouTube star Piotr Hancke, known online to his millions of followers as Latwogang, raised the cash by broadcasting from a flat in Warsaw.

The livestream, which ended on Sunday, was supported by stars including Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.

Spanish footballing sensation Lamine Yamal appeared in Szczęsny's video to support the appeal, which was in aid of the Polish charity Cancer Fighters Foundation (CFF).

Latwogang, 23, listened to a charity song recorded by Polish rapper Bedoes 2115 on a continuous loop for the entirety of the stream.

Written as a rap diss track, but aimed at cancer, it features vocals from a young patient living with the disease.

Coldplay's Chris Martin appeared in a video call, performing a short tune to the camera before apologising for his attempt at speaking Polish.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski also joined the effort, sharing a video of him dancing to the song on TikTok.

After the livestream ended, the footballer posted on Instagram that he was "proud to be Polish".

Some of Latwogang's celebrity guests shaved their heads in support of cancer patients and he had his own head shaved.

The stream began on 17 April on YouTube and finished on Sunday evening.

At one point the stream was viewed by 1.4 million people simultaneously, state news agency PAP reported.

At the time of writing, the official fundraising total shared on the Cancer Fighters page showed that just over £52m had been raised.

CFF has set up a separate website since, pledging to publicly account for all the money raised, so "everyone who has been a part of this campaign [can] see their commitment translate into real help".

The charity's president Marek Kopysc said they were "reaching for the stars" to help "innocent children who fight the hardest battles every day".

The money raised is more than three times the previous record set by a livestream.

According to Guinness World Records, a group of French streamers raised €16.1m (£14m), for various causes last year.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Read original at BBC News

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