Monday 20th January, 2020 at 5:54pm
A young goalkeeper from Belfast and his family travelled to Firhill at the weekend to say a special – and surprise – thank you to Jags goalkeeping coach Kenny Arthur.
Back in December Kenny came to the rescue of nine-year-old Kai Evitt, after his family had contacted dozens of sports retailers, football clubs and other organisations without success.
All Kai wanted for Christmas was a specially made pair of goalie gloves to cater for his needs, having been born with a rare condition called Ectrodactyly.
Kai’s family couldn’t find anyone able to help and were giving up hope until they emailed Kenny via his Kaliaaer GK business. Kenny replied within hours, set to work on tailor-making a pair of gloves especially for Kai and then posted two pairs over free of charge and in time for Christmas.
Young Kai and his family were so overwhelmed that they took it upon themselves to say a very personal thanks to Kenny on Saturday – and confirmed they are now fully fledged Partick Thistle supporters too. The club have invited them back to take in a game later in the season.
Kenny said: “What an incredible surprise it was. I was told I was going to meet some scouts, I should have known better!
“It was the first time I’d met Kai and his family in person and it was a very special moment. Creating and making his gloves was a complete pleasure and the least we could do. You can see how much he loves his football – we’ll be keeping touch and wish him every enjoyment and success between the sticks.”
We’ll have a video of the meeting of Kenny and Kai on ptfc.co.uk later this week.
