Disability football a 'dream come true' for Callum

The 22-year-old is back on the pitch - 15 years after a road accident left him with brain damage.

A young white man with short dark hair holds a red and white football above his head with two hands. He's wearing a black and red striped football shirt and smiling in the sunshine on an artificial grass pitch.
Callum Irvine said he could not wait to play his first competitive match with Gomersal Cleckheaton FC [BBC/ Nicola Rees]

When keen footballer Callum Irvine was seven years old he was hit by a car and almost died.

The accident left him with permanent brain damage and as a result he had to quit the game he loved.

Mr Irvine, now 22, said his dream of playing football again had "finally come true" thanks to a new pan-disability team set up by his childhood club, Gomersal & Cleckheaton FC.

"It's football for everybody," he said "and I just want to play."

A young white boy appears unconscious in a hospital bed.  He is connected to a breathing tube and feeding tube, and being supported by a head brace. Other medical/ monitoring wires are connected to his bare chest with sticky pads.
Callum suffered a serious head injury and a broken femur when he was hit by a car in 2010 [family handout]

Following the accident in 2010 Callum spent six months in hospital at Leeds General Infirmary.

His mum Carly said seeing him in an induced coma was the worst day of her life.

"He'd just been playing football for Gomersal that morning, I remember he scored a hat-trick, and then a few hours later they're [doctors] telling me he won't survive the next 24 hours.

"It was a living nightmare."

Callum pulled through, but the accident left him with a significant brain injury limiting his cognitive development to around the mental age of a seven-year-old.

A middle-aged white woman with dark hair and glasses is standing on an artificial sports pitch and smiling. Her hair is tied back and she is wearing a padded black jacket with a high collar and hood.
Carly Irvine said she was "unbelievably proud" of her son [BBC/ Nicola Rees]

"One of the only things he's remembered since that day is football," Ms Irvine said.

"This club is so special to our family and to see him kicking a ball again after all these years is amazing."

Callum, who is a student at Springfield Sixth Form Centre in Dewsbury, has recently returned to Cleckheaton & Gomersal, after 15 years, to play with the new disability team.

Training takes place every week in Bradford and the sessions are for anyone who is unable to access mainstream football.

Some players have learning disabilities, while others have a mental health condition or a physical disability.

A middle-aged white man with brown hair is standing on an artificial football pitch, smiling broadly in the setting sun. He is wearing a black hooded top with a football emblem on the chest.
Coach Andrew Birkenshaw said the disability team was "not tokenistic" and players were treated the same as those in every other squad [BBC/ Nicola Rees]

Gomersal & Cleckheaton coach Andrew Birkenshaw, who is also a learning disability nurse in Bradford, said the sessions were "absolutely the best part" of his week.

"Before we started this team there was nothing around here for young disabled people so all these kids were just at home doing nothing," he said.

"They are all amazing; the way they play and how they support each other."

The pan-disability sessions have been so popular the club is now looking to expand to include children as young as eight or nine.

A young white boy with fair hair looks elated as he runs across a football pitch, smiling broadly with one hand in the air. He is wearing a black and red striped football kit and appears to be celebrating
Callum had scored a hat-trick for Gomersal & Cleckheaton FC and was awarded 'man of the match' hours before the accident in 2010 [family handout]

Ms Irvine said playing with the team was the highlight of her son's week and that he "counted the sleeps" between sessions.

"This is the club he's always loved since he was six years old," she said.

"I can't even describe what it means to us to be back here and how proud I am of Callum.

"They said he'd never walk or talk again, and look at him; he's running with a ball!

"You can never say a young person with disabilities can't do something. They will prove you wrong."

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Category: General Sports