Now if you are a Liverpool fan or a Newcastle fan, take this with a light heartedness. No point in getting angry because the guy who said this once did not have heart temporarily.
So taking it on a lighter note will only help you few laughs. Not the same case if you are Alexander Isak.
The Swedish footballer, ‘solely’ due to his connection with Newcastle, had his name laughed across before the Sunderland players Wilson Isidior and Noah Sadiki.
Before the derby on Sunday, the Sunderland players had done a petty show for Sky Sports, judging fan talents.
Dan Ward, a standup comedian and a Sunderland supporter for more than 30 years appeared as the third contestant after a magician and a world record specialist.
He made the players laugh at the very first instance but the highlight was the similarity he drew between his health condition and Alexander Isak.
Ward started the joke explaining how much ups and downs the Sunderland fans have had to see being fans.
He then raised his t-shirt to show the scar at the center of his chest and went, “this is a scar from a heart transplant. I had an operation. So 5 years ago, my heart stopped working like Alexander Isak, this summer”, bringing parallels to Isak forcing his big move from Newcastle United to Liverpool early summer.
I can’t lie, this is hilarious 😂😂😂 everyone’s in on the Isak slander pic.twitter.com/kCdxLLrnU2
— Magpie Media (@MagpieMediaX) December 10, 2025
Wilson isidor burst out laughing in seconds but still felt wonder how the guy turned a tragedy like heart attack to a comical situation.
For context, Dan Ward is a victim of the serious heart disease Dilated Cardiomyopathy and had his health at serious risk when he was admitted in a Sunderland Hospital in April 2021 until a heart was available for transplant.
He finally had a successful transplant in July 2021. After his recovery from death bed he completed the comedy course he had enrolled earlier.
“It’s something I’ve always really fancied doing but never quite got the bottle to do. At the start of 2020 I’d signed up to the course but then Covid hit and it didn’t happen.“
On why he wanted to do stand up comedy –
“After my transplant, they emailed me to remind me that I had this course voucher and ask if I wanted to use it. My outlook had shifted so much since my transplant. Not a lot of people know what you think about when you’re right at the very end. I’ve been fortunate to be on my deathbed and come back from it, and I know what goes through your mind. It was the things that I’d always wanted to do but never got around to for one reason or another. I promised myself at that point that anything that was in my power to do when I was fit and active again, I wasn’t going to pass up on and one of those things was stand-up comedy.”
The guy who Ward took for granted is facing struggles too in his profession.
Isak has not had the brightest of times for liverpool after forcing his way out of Newcastle for the transfer.
Isak has had only 2 goal contributions in 8 games, not something Liverpool would have expected for paying 145 million Euros.
He would not have laughed had he heard the joke but whatever he has to reply, he needs to do it on field.
