“He’s an inspiration to everybody.”
Meet Conall Harvey.
Conall is a Gaelic footballer with Philadelphia-based youth club Delaware County Gaels.
The remarkable eight-year-old has defied the odds – and a whole lot more – to line out at the Continental Youth Championships in Boston.
In 2015, Conall was diagnosed with leukaemia via septic shock.
An operation to save the young boy’s life resulted in the loss of both of his legs and the fingers on his right hand.
“We found out he had leukaemia a day or two after they saved his life,” notes his mother Christin.
“He had surgery about three months later and they amputated his legs and then he was a different child. The sickness was almost gone from him. If you asked him about his fingers he’d say, ‘What?! Have you seen my legs?’
“He didn’t think twice about it,” says Christin. “It was just ‘this is how it’s going to be; I’m going to be healthier and I’m going to get new legs.'”
Christin adds that Delco Gaels have helped the Harvey family through their journey.
A year after Conall’s initial diagnosis, he started back up with the team. The family have travelled to Ireland a few times since, as Conall continues to get stronger.
“He’s just part of the team,” says his mother.
“They just throw him right in there. He might not catch up with the other children, but he tries, and he thinks he does, which is the best part. He feels like a normal eight-year-old in this team.”
Check out Conall’s story below.
Clip via officialgaa
“He helps me out a lot,” laughs Delco Gaels coach Liam Moore.
“He’s always giving me new references every day. Great kid, had a great fight on his hands there for over a couple of years or more and he’s winning it every day.”
Asked if he’d ever seen anyone like Conall on a football pitch before, coach Anthony Moore was quick to hail the young man’s incredible heart.
“Never. I’ve never seen anybody with the spirit that he has. The attitude is unreal. He’s an inspiration to everybody.”
Thanks to Jerome Quinn for sending this story our way.
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