A lot of footballers love children and have shown special love to their younger fans.
But sometimes, these guys have ended up hurting some of those young fans, albeit accidentally.
Let us check out 6 football stars who accidentally injured children.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Of course, you remember a frustrated Cristiano slapping a phone from the hands of a young
Everton fan after the Merseyside club beat Man United in April.
Well, it would appear that not only did CR7 smash the phone on the floor,
he also bruised the kid’s hand in the process, as his mother would later reveal on social media.
The whole situation looked even worse when we discovered that the 14-year-old fan who lives with
autism was having his first appearance in a stadium that day. And according to his mother,
he was utterly shocked and may never go see another game live because of that.
Ronaldo, however, rendered a public apology to the teenager for his outburst. He went
on to offer him a free ticket to watch a game live at Old Trafford, which, we hear,
was rejected by the boy and his mother.
The reactions of this young lad has been markedly different from
the reaction of the boy who was hit by a Ronaldo freekick back in 2013.
During a preseason friendly between Real Madrid and Bournemouth, Cristiano took a freekick that
went over the bar and straight to a young Bournemouth fan in the stands. The ball was
headed straight for his face, so he blocked it with his hand, breaking his wrist in the process.
The young boy, who said that watching Real Madrid live was a once in a lifetime opportunity,
stayed back and watched the entire game in pain instead
of heading straight to the hospital. Of course, after receiving first aid.
After the match, he got a call from the Real Madrid president apologizing and telling him he
was sending over a signed Cristiano Ronaldo jersey for his troubles. The boy was super excited!
And his excitement didn’t even stop there as the jersey was presented to him by Steven Fletcher,
a legend of the club he loves so much.
2. Steven Gerrard
Back in 2007, when Gerrard was captain of Liverpool and one of the biggest football
stars in the world, everybody wanted a picture with him or an autograph from him.
And when 10-year-old Jamie Hellawell was running after the former skipper’s
Bentley in October of that year, we’re sure he wanted to ask for one of those. Unfortunately,
what he ended up getting was a broken leg after running into the side of Gerrard’s car.
When he saw what had happened, Stevie G immediately pulled over and stayed with the boy,
comforting him until the ambulance he had called came. He also made sure to stay in
contact with Jamie’s family to check up on the boy’s progress. He even visited him in
the hospital and went to make a statement at the police station, even though all eye-witnesses say
that the accident was not Gerrard’s fault. Such a sweet lad the Aston Villa boss is, isn’t he?
By the way, we all hope Jamie – who is surely an
adult now – is doing great. Jamie, if you’re watching this, leave a comment down there.
3. James Collins
Back in 2016, during warmups before a game between Wales and Moldova,
James Collins, former West Ham center back who played for the Wales national team,
took a wayward shot which went straight to the stands.
Unfortunately, the ball hit Ryan Evans,
a 6-year-old fan who was at the stadium to watch the match with his dad.
The boy was dazed and disoriented after the ball hit him,
and Collins quickly ran up the stands to check on Ryan.
While the boy was being attended to by the medic,
the former Wales defender went and fetched a little apology gift for the young fan.
He handed Ryan a signed jersey and even helped upgrade his seat so he could stay
back and watch the match without the fear of the ball hitting him again.
4. Mo Salah
Salah is one of the biggest football stars in the world right now,
and fans would do anything just to get a picture with him.
Well, 11-year-old Louis Fowler succeeded in getting a picture with him,
but he had to pay with his own blood. Literally.
The young fan was running after Mo’s car trying to get his attention.
He was so focused on the moving car that he was not looking in front of him. So,
he ran into a lamppost and hurt his nose pretty badly.
When Salah saw what had happened, he immediately stopped the car and went to check on the little
boy. He granted the boy’s wish by taking a picture with him with blood still dripping from his nose.
We’re sure that’s a photo Louis will never forget.
Frankly, the internet will never forget this legendary photo, too.
5. Charlie Wyke
Wigan Athletic striker, Charlie Wyke,
also accidentally smashed a ball in the face of a young fan back when he was at Bradford City.
Unlike the case with James Collins, this one happened during the match,
so Charlie had to wait until the final whistle to go to the stands and render his apology.
Along with his apology, he offered the young fan the shirt he wore for that game.
A gesture which was applauded by all of the fans in the stadium that day.
6. Neymar Jr.
Back in 2015, Neymar was doing what he does best on the pitch; entertaining the fans.
He was with his Brazil teammates and they were just arriving at the stadium in preparation for
their Copa America game later that evening. In a bid to entertain the fans present,
Neymar did some keepy-uppies and booted the ball high into the sky to the excitement of the fans.
But that excitement quickly turned into pain for one of the younger fans as the ball
landed on his face with a lot of force.
Neymar quickly searched through the crowd for the little boy and then invited him to the team bus
as a way of apologizing. After receiving treatment, the boy got to meet a number of
Brazilian superstars face to face and then left with an autographed ball from Neymar himself.
What started out as a pretty bad evening for
him may as well as ended up as the best night of that young lad’s life.
If you know where any of these kids are now,
let us know in the comments. We would like to see how they’re doing now.
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