What lengths would you go to, to meet your all-time hero?
Well, they do say you should never meet your heroes, but one young lad had all his dreams come true when he got a hug from Liverpool legend Mo Salah, even if it did mean a broken nose and a few tears.
Louis Fowler, 11, couldn’t contain his excitement when he saw the Egyptian forward in his car as he left the club’s Melwood training ground on Saturday afternoon.
He and his 10-year-old brother Isaac were hanging around hoping to spot one of the squad on their way home, when Salah’s Bentley pulled out of the grounds.
Louis started running after the car waving, but the excitement got too much when he accidentally ran straight into a lamp post, leaving him unconscious on the floor.
Fortunately, Salah noticed the 11-year-old’s plight and decided to turn around and drive into the estate to make sure he was okay.
Once Louis came around from his accident, he was on his way back home with some neighbours when Salah appeared.
The brothers happily posed for photos with their hero, instantly taking the pain away from Louis’ poor broken nose.
Louis’ stepdad Joe Cooper told the Liverpool Echo how they were still trying to work out what’d happened when Salah turned up:
He’d seen one of the boys had hurt himself and he had the decency to drive back into the close to check that he was okay.
No-one could believe it. Everyone was gobsmacked.
Joe said Salah asked if the boys were okay, before giving them both a big hug and thankfully, Louis forgot all about being injured.
He continued:
It was a touch of class on Mo Salah’s part to turn round and actively come looking for the boys.
He was really apologetic and saying sorry for something that wasn’t his fault.
I’d just like to say a big thank you to him. He’s a top bloke. Mo Salah is their hero and the boys were made up.
Sharing the pictures of Louis and Isaac with their hero on Twitter, Joe praised Salah for coming back, branding him a ‘true gent’.
He wrote:
Mo Salah thank you for coming back to check on my boys after Louis KO’d himself trying to get a wave!
He loves you so much and the pain went away instantly when you came to give them a hug.
You are a top man and a true gent!
After his eventful day, Louis was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where doctors revealed he’d need to have his nose re-set, but other than that he was fine.
At least whenever the story of his broken nose comes up in the future, it’s a bloody good story to tell.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.