Max, the 10-year-old boy that you see in the picture, was particularly excited to appear at the Sweden versus Germany World Cup Qualifying match as a mascot.
According to his father, his son Max, who suffers from Williams syndrome, had trained for hours for the game, but became a little overwhelmed at the event.
Swedish National player, Kim Kallstrom, knelt down and comforted the boy during the event, which he was obviously finding stressful.
After the match, Max’s father sent a letter to the football star to thank him for his help at the game. This has been translated into English and appeared on Reddit.
“For Max, Tuesday was the result of weeks of training, motivation, watching Youtube clips, acting like a mascot, and so on, writes the father of the eight year old boy in a letter to the boy’s new hero , the Swedish soccer star Kim Kallstrom.
Max and ten children with Williams syndrome had the pleasure to be mascots for the Swedish football stars in front of 50 000 spectators during the World Cup qualifying match between Sweden and Germany at Friends Arena on Tuesday of last week.
The disease gives children a happy demeanor but they have problems concentrating and relating to the outside world.
Still, Max fully realized how great it was going to be to be the mascot for your favorite players.
So great was the occasion that Max had trained for several weeks and dared to go out onto the pitch. He was scared and nervous when the moment came, but was out on the field and lined up with national stars.
Thanks to Kim Kallstrom, who sat down and hugged and reassured the boy, 8 year-old Max completed his mascot job.
Max’s father said “Because of your actions, Kim, my son was able to experience exactly the same feelings as everyone else: pride, a sense of being special, “I did it” and the joy”, writes Max’s father Emil in a letter of thanks to Kallstrom.
The letter found its way to social media, and has been shared over 15,000 times on facebook. In addition, there have been almost 90,000 “likes.”
The letter explains how important Max’s father thought it was for the boy to dare to undertake the mascot job.
Max’s father wrote: “I am writing to you because I’m not quite sure if you understand how much of a difference you’ve made to us. Tuesday saw my son Max do something very special, for other children, it’s really about 15 minutes of concentration and nervousness as well as an incredible joy of having been able to meet the national team.”
However, Kallstrom insisted on being modest in his reply.
“Of course I’m pleased that Max’s dad appreciated what I did during the field entrance, but what’s more gratifying is that, despite Max being a little nervous in the players tunnel, together we were fortunately able to make it a very positive experience.
“In a situation like this I act more like neighbor and parent than as the footballer I just happen to be. I realize I have a responsibility to the parents, who probably themselves are a little apprehensive about staying in the stands, but also to the children who enter with us. I try to be calm and comforting and it is usually enjoyed by kids.”
