There wasn’t a dry eye in Croke Park. During the All-Ireland semi-final clash between Dublin and Kerry in August this year, players and supporters alike paid a moving tribute to a five-year-old, sports mad boy, who by rights should’ve been at the game.

Ben Farrell (pictured here with his mother Val) – affectionately known as Batman Ben because of his love of both the superhero and the Michael Jackson song ‘Ben’ – had lost his battle with a rare form of kidney cancer a few days earlier. After the game, Dublin corner-back, Phily McMahon, took to Twitter with a picture of himself in a Batman t-shirt and wrote: “The little batman was watching over us!”

Diagnosed with a rare illness called stage IV Wilms tumors, on Christmas Eve 2015, the Finglas boy had endured the ordeal of 19 treatments in a Dublin hospital. With Irish medicine at the end of what it could offer, his family needed to come up with a staggering €260,000 for a potentially lifesaving treatment in the USA. They had raised €200,000 – but sadly Ben slipped away when they finally went Stateside. Just before his death, doctors in America had told the family that they would probably need closer to €400,000 to cover the treatment. In the end it was all to no avail.

GLIMMER OF HOPE
Now, Hot Press can reveal that, in an effort to help children in a similar position to Batman Ben, a charity single of the song once famously sung by Michael Jackson, will be released on October 28. Proceeds go to two charities: Gavin Glyn and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie. Appropriately, the singer involved in the charity CD is Kiera Dignam, daughter of Christy Dignam of Aslan – who himself is fighting an incurable form of cancer.

“When Kiera told us she had been working on releasing a single for Ben,” Ben’s mother, Val, explains, “I thought how lovely, what a great idea. But when she told me the song was ‘Ben’ by Michael Jackson I sat in our room in Michigan and cried.”

Songwriter Don Black, who wrote ‘Ben’, originally offered it to Donny Osmond before Michael Jackson turned it into a smash hit. “I love this version of the song, it’s a terrific vocal,” he tells Hot Press. “So upset to hear this sad news. This is a truly heartbreaking story. I send my condolences to all the family.”

Christy Dignam was by Kiera’s side in the studio to offer his guidance, and the track was produced by Stuart Gray, who has worked with Hozier, Ryan Sheridan and Brian Kennedy.
“Kiera couldn’t have known Ben loved this song,” Val reflects. “When he first heard it, he had asked his Daddy, ‘Is this about me’? He always made me cry when he would sit and play it on my phone. Ben’s father used to tell him, ‘Yes, son, Michael Jackson sang it for you!’ Well, Ben would sit on our couch and beam with pride playing it. It has so much meaning for us!”

Kiera admits that it was emotionally difficult to record ‘Ben’.

“When I found out Ben had the song on his iPad and loved the song, that sealed it for me. But by the time I got into the studio to put down my vocal, Ben had passed away. So, what would have been a very difficult thing to do became a hundred times harder. My aim was to do Ben’s memory justice and to give his parents and family something they could listen to, and think of Ben. I hope it can be of some comfort to them. Kiera was involved in the charity for Ben before his tragic death. “A few months ago I noticed a lot of things being shared on Facebook about Ben and, looking into it, I seen that he was a local little boy (from Finglas) who needed treatment in America to potentially save his life! As a mother of three children, I was touched by this.

“The next day I was gigging in the pub with my band and seen some of Ben’s posters around. I couldn’t get Ben out of my head. I spoke to my husband, who plays guitar for me about it, and he said to try to make contact and see if there was anything we could do.”

For a brief moment, there was a glimmer of hope.

“A couple of weeks later Ben’s mam texted me saying that even though they hadn’t reached their target yet they could fly to America to start trials. In the weeks they were in America, I thought about them constantly and texted regularly,” Kiera remembers.
Sadly, it turned out to be a false dawn.

MOVED TO TEARS
The single is the brainchild of Stephen Browne, a music promoter and manager of the recently reformed the Brilliant Trees.

“We ran an event in our local bar with Niall Regan and a gathering of his DJ friends and we raised €,1000,” he explains. “After the event, I wanted to help more. I thought: ‘Why not try get the song ‘Ben’ re-recorded for Ben, even to raise awareness?’ The writer of Ben, Don Black still works in the BBC, so I sent him a message. I received a reply within an hour. Not only offering his support, but also he had made contact with Sony to get the process moving. What a kind man.”

The cost of recording the song and printing the CD was funded by the ebay Global Impact Team, while Axis Media and Print and Printbroker.ie all contributed to making it happen. Kiera played the song for Ben’s mother, who was moved to tears when she heard it.
Val sent a simple but touching text message to all those who had chipped in. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Ben By Kiera Dignam is available from iTunes Store now (€1.29). The CD retails @ €5.

Batman Ben pictured here with his mother Val.

Singer Kiera Dignam, who recorded the track in memory of Ben.

The single cover for Kiera Dignam's charity single 'Ben'.