‘To us he is an inspiration’

Daire Gorman, a member of the Cavan/Monaghan Little Blue Heroes had a birthday to remember recently. Not only did the Little Blue Hero group organise a trip to Anfield for him ahead of his twelfth birthday to watch Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa, he was also presented with jerseys signed by current Liverpool player Diogo Jota and retired club legend Jamie Carragher. His emotional reaction upon receiving the jerseys was since shared on Twitter where it has received over 2.4 million views.

Daire, who comes from Dunraymond between Ballybay and Monaghan town, has an extremely rare condition Crommelin Syndrome leading him to have no arms from the elbows down and is also missing femur bones in both legs meaning he is in a wheelchair full time.

“The Little Blue Heroes surprised him for his birthday with the trip, he went over with his dad Kenny,” said his mother Shelley.

“Daire is still getting emotional over the whole experience, he can’t believe that he got to go and that all of this happened. The jerseys were presented to him by Ted Morris, chairman of the Liverpool disabled supporters group.”

Shelley said that the video’s massive reach shows others that having a disability shouldn’t hold you back.

“It’s nice for other children to see the emotion in Daire, and it is possible to go after your dream, to us he is an inspiration. It has also given him a great confidence boost because sometimes people stare and point at him and sometimes they laugh. The amount of positivity has been amazing for him. He couldn’t wait to go back to school, in St Oliver Plunketts in Loch Morn, it was a first-ever for him.”