BRAVE Tony Hudgell beams with delight as his football hero, Man United’s Harry Maguire, visits him in hospital bearing gifts.
Tony, ten, whose legs were amputated due to abuse as a tot, met the defender, 31, soon after surgery on a broken hip at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
Adoptive mum Paula Hudgell said: “He was over the moon.”
She added: “We weren’t sure he would be out of surgery in time, but Mr Fernandez the surgeon is phenomenal and he was out just in time to meet Harry.”
Earlier in the month, The Sun revealed Tony had undergone ‘miracle’ surgery.
Mum Paula told The Sun: “It’s a complete miracle — the surgeon was absolutely incredible.
“This isn’t the end of surgeries, but he won’t need another one for a while, so he is looking forward to playing football.”
“He can’t wait, he even kicked a ball a little while he was recovering, which he maybe shouldn’t have done – but it all worked out okay!”
Tony, who captured the hearts of the nation when he raised more than £2 million for the hospital that saved his life as a tot, was praised by his adoptive mum for his “resilience and determination”.
The 10-year-old was subjected to a campaign of horrific abuse by his birth parents Anthony Smith and Jody Simpson, which left him with multiple fractures to his limbs at just six-weeks old.
The evil pair, who were both jailed for 10 years in 2018, then waited 10 days before seeking medical help, by which time Tony had also developed multiple organ failure and septicaemia.
Medical staff at Evelina London Children’s Hospital saved his life, but he had to have both legs amputated at the knee as a result of his injuries when he was four-years-old.
After tireless campaigning by the schoolboy, ‘Tony’s Law’ was introduced in 2022 to increase the maximum prison sentence for anyone who causes or allows physical harm to, or the death of, a child in their care.
As a result, he became the youngest person ever to receive the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2024 New Year Honours for his services to the prevention of child abuse.
He has now teamed up with ‘Bionic MP’ Lord Craig Mackinlay and gold medal-winning Paralympian Richard Whitehead to advocate for better limb loss support, at the same time as fundraising to provide Christmas presents for needy children.
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