West Ham goalkeeper makes heartwarming gesture to mascot with autism
West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was praised for joining his mascot in wearing noise-cancelling headphones ahead of their 2-2 draw against Newcastle.
Areola walked out at the London Stadium with a young Hammers fan called Charlie who has autism, with Charlie's dad John hailing the France International as a "class act". After West Ham posted a photo of Areola and Charlie wearing the matching ear defenders, John replied: "This is my son, Charlie, who was the mascot that is with Areola.
"He is autistic and wears the ear defenders to cancel out the loud noise. Areola was told prior to the game and wanted to wear them as well to put Charlie at ease Great move by Areola and it made his day. Class act!"
Areola also shared the same image on his Instagram story, writing: "The game is for everyone" along with two heart emojis. Fellow West Ham star Jarrod Bowen made a similar gesture earlier this year, joining his mascot in wearing ear defenders before the Hammers' game against Liverpool in April.
Striker Danny Ings made nine-year-old fan Riley Regan "so happy" after doing the same thing when he was at Aston Villa last year, with Riley's mum Becky telling Birmingham Live her son was "worried that the players and other fans would laugh at him" for wearing ear defenders.
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"It made his day," she said. "It topped off the whole experience. We took a spare pair of ear defenders with us to the game and we asked the staff if it was possible to get whoever was walking out with Riley to wear them too.
"It was down to each individual player so we couldn't guarantee it was going to happen but Danny was more than happy to do it. Riley was worried that the players and other fans would laugh at him so the fact he wasn't the only one wearing them made him so happy.
"He wears them to all the matches and the people who sit around him know why he wears them - but other people don't. He didn't want to wear them but he has to.
"What Danny Ings did has had such a positive impact on raising awareness and making children like Riley feel less alone. We've been contacted by parents of children with additional needs from around the world all saying that their children are now happy to wear their ear defenders.
"That's all we really wanted, just to show people that even if a child has a disability - that doesn't mean he's not the same as everyone else."
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