Darwin Nunez gifted a shin pad to a double-amputee mascot ahead of Liverpool's defeat by Chelsea. Ten-year-old Chelsea fan Tony Hudgell, who had both legs amputated after being abused as a baby by his birth parents, was on mascot duty for Sunday's game and was the subject of a kind gesture from Liverpool's No. 9.
As well as the shin pad from Nunez, Tony received a signed shirt from the Chelsea squad, which was gifted to him by Blues star Cole Palmer as well as goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.
Tony, who was recently fitted for new prosthetics which will enable him to walk without crutches, accompanied Palmer onto the Stamford Bridge pitch and shook hands with all of Liverpool's players ahead of kick-off.
Tony appeared on UK television show Good Morning Britain on Monday, addressing his experience and revealing Nunez's gesture: "It was really fun, they won 3-1. Liverpool didn't really play like they were the champions!
"Cole Palmer was nice. This is a signed Chelsea shirt, and everyone signed it... everyone but Cole. I don't know why he didn't sign it! That's probably like the only time that I'm going to see Palmer. It was really cool to be on the pitch. I was really excited."
He added: “Someone in the Liverpool team gave me their shin pad... Darwin Nunez. It was before the game, so mum was worrying if he played with just one shin pad!”
Nunez came off the bench for Liverpool against Chelsea
Nunez came off the bench for Liverpool against Chelsea (Image: AFP or licensors)
On his new prosthetics, Tony said: "They're going really well, and with this, I can now do some things that I couldn't do, like play football. I'm taller too."
Tony's birth parents were jailed for 10 years in 2018, and the brave youngster has since raised millions of dollars for charity through a series of challenges.
While Tony is a Chelsea fan, his adoptive mum Paula Hudgell previously told GMB: “He was over the moon because being Liverpool as well, there’s a couple of players he idolises from Liverpool.”
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Fanatics Official Sports Apparel — Liverpool
As Tony alluded to during the GMB interview, Liverpool didn't exactly play to the best of its abilities as it lost by more than one goal for the first time during Arne Slot's time as the team's head coach.
Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring before a Jarell Quansah own-goal doubled the host's lead. Virgil van Dijk pulled one back for Liverpool but Chelsea's two-goal lead was restored by Cole Palmer in the closing stages.
The under-par performance was perhaps no surprise considering it was Liverpool's first game since the title was secured seven days earlier, while Slot also made significant changes to his team for the game, lining up with several fringe players.