Sydney Swans find blind fan and friend who melted hearts
THE most touching AFL story of the year just got better after the Sydney Swans managed to track down the two boys who melted hearts across the nation last week.
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THE most touching AFL story of the year just got better after the Sydney Swans managed to track down two boys who melted hearts across the nation last week.
When their radio went dead during the Swans clash against the Blues in round 23 12-year-old Jarryd Haines took it upon himself to provide a running commentary of the match for his blind friend Mark Smith, 13.
The gesture, as well as the professional nature of Jarryd’s commentary which reportedly rivalled the major networks, warmed the hearts of spectators sitting around the boys.
â¤ï¸ â¤ï¸ â¤ï¸
— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) September 5, 2017
A heartwarming story of two very special boys who we had the pleasure of welcoming to the Club today. pic.twitter.com/6AW5rXam47
“We were giving Mark something so he could listen to the commentary and that didn’t work in the second quarter so I just decided to call the game for him,” Jarryd said.
Much to their delight the Swans carved Carlton up 138-57 in the final regular season fixture of the year.
When the Swans heard about the two boys the club reached out on social media in a bid to track down the die hard fans and provide some VIP experiences.
A week of searching came to an end yesterday when Jarryd and Mark visited the SCG to meet the Swans playing group and kick a ball around on the hallowed turf.
The boys will also get the honour of running through the banner with the Swans at Saturday’s home final against Essendon.
“It’s been amazing. I met all the players and I’ve loved it,” Mark said.
Swans supporter Jonathan Drennan kicked the search off after sitting near the boys during the Carlton match and imploring the Swans on Twitter to find them.
“I guess I heard a beautiful thing and we heard this amazing commentary so I tweeted it and here we are at the SCG with two amazing boys,” he said.
“It just shows the power of social media and the power of the football community.”
Delighted to finally meet the best commentary duo in sport ever at @sydneyswans pic.twitter.com/cNC6HHE1ji
— Jonathan Drennan (@JWDrennan) September 5, 2017
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