Young Evertonian Harry Garside will lead out the Blues as mascot for next week’s visit of Tottenham Hotspur following a special invite from his hero Jordan Pickford.
Earlier this month, Harry and his mum Laura featured in a viral video that formed part of the Premier League’s ‘Fan Mail’ series, in which he met his idol Pickford at the club’s training ground, Finch Farm. The eight-year-old has displayed amazing bravery and courage in what has been an incredibly difficult period of his life.
After being diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis at the age of five, Harry later discovered that he also had an eight-centimetre-long brain tumour.
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The video, in which Harry and Everton goalkeeper Pickford spent time chatting before heading to the indoor pitch to take penalties with other members of the Blues squad, has been watched more than 10 million times on Premier League channels alone and attracted comments from names throughout football and beyond.
The youngster will now emerge from the Goodison Park tunnel alongside the England number one ahead of Monday’s Premier League match, which is being broadcast live on Sky Sports.
On meeting Harry and organising the surprise, Pickford said: “It was a pleasure to meet Harry a few weeks ago. To see him still be so bubbly and full of life, despite all he’s been through, was really inspiring for me and the rest of the lads that spent time with him.
“Hopefully this experience will give him another little boost and I can wait to see him at Goodison Park, where I know our fans will give him a fantastic reception.”
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