TODDLER Brodie Barr suffers from a rare medical condition and has gone through FOURTEEN major operations since he was born three yeas ago.
And as soon as the lad was allowed out of intensive care after a bout of pneumonia last week, his ice hockey hero, The Clan’s Gary Haden got his skates on to pay him a surprise visit.
The hockey star came laden with gifts from The Clan to cheer up Brodie, as he spends even more time in the Royal Hospital for Children, in Glasgow.
Brodie wasn’t expected to live after being born eight weeks premature suffering from the rare VACTERL syndrome, which means he has several life-threatening medical conditions.
Illnesses Brodie has includes spina bifida, a hole in his heart, only one kidney that sometimes stops working, he was born without an oesophagus and surgeons had to fit an artificial oesophagus into his stomach.
Brodie, his mum and dad Leona and Ryan, both 29, are huge Clan fans and have season tickets for the games at Braehead Arena. And when Brodie has to be admitted to hospital, the family watch the games being streamed on an iPad.
Leona, from Irvine, Ayrshire said: “Brodie is our little miracle and we call him Brodie Barr Superstar. He was only three pounds when he was born and with all the medical issues, he wasn’t supposed to make it into this world. But he’s a warrior and takes everything in his stride.
“Brodie loves going to see The Clan and he knows the words of all the songs fans sing. Gary Haden is one of his favourite players and when Gary walked in and Brodie realised who was standing there in front of him, he was absolutely delighted.
“He was so excited all he could say was ‘Glasgow Clan, Glasgow Clan’.”
Leona added: “We were all so overwhelmed that Gary took the time out his day to visit Brodie and the look on our boy’s face said everything about how much he loved to see Gary.
“We can’t thank The Clan and Gary enough for what they have done for us. Thankfully, Brodie is now recovering from the pneumonia and Gary and The Clan have certainly helped him on his way.”
Gary gave Brodie a Clan backpack filled with a Clan t-shirt, Clangus teddy, Clangus jumper, Clangus mug, Clangus jammies, Clangus hat and a Valentines puck.
Gary said: “Brodie’s fighting spirit in the face of all the adversity he has faced in his young life is an inspiration to us all. It was privilege meeting the young lad.”
The Clan’s managing director, Gareth Chalmers added: “Gary is a tremendous ambassador for the club and ice hockey in general. We are a community club and the Purple Army fans are very much part of the Clan family. And of course, families look after each other in times of trouble and that’s what we do.
“We hope to see Brodie with his mum and dad back at Braehead Arena very soon.”