GOING to football matches with your parents is a key part of growing up and for one Mapplewell youngster it’s completely brought him out of his shell.
Louie George Wood was born prematurely at 28 weeks, weighing less than 2lbs, and then suffered a bleed on the brain, chronic lung disease, suspected sepsis, anaemia and stomach issues.
The nine-year-old has quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy, periventricular leukomalacia a type of brain injury in which cysts form on the brain and global developmental delay.
Despite Louie’s illness, he’s still manages to live life to the fullest even appearing in children’s books and on TV in the past few years.
On Saturday in Barnsley’s League One game against Exeter City, charity Paces held a takeover day supporting the national Unite for Access Level Playing Field campaign.
For Louie, choosing Paces was life-changing.
Since joining the school, he has flourished physically, socially and emotionally.
His mum Jodie told the Chronicle the school is ‘like a family’ and before the match Louie was able to walk onto the pitch with his brother Jake and dad Tom.
She said the club couldn’t have done any more to support all the family during the day and more than £3,000 was raised to support the charity’s efforts.
Louie, who is still classed as non-verbal, is coming along incredibly well, she added.
“He’s doing absolutely amazing,” she said.
“He’s coming on amazingly.
“He’s still classed as being non-verbal because he can’t speak fluently.
“But he can say a lot of words, which he hasn’t been able to for a few years.
“He just loves doing things.
“He’s started wheelchair basketball and he does frame football.
“He’s just loving life.”
Louie is a season ticket holder at Oakwell and Jodie admits that attending games has really helped bring him out of his shell often shouting ‘shoot’ along with the Oakwell faithful.
And after Saturday, we may even be looking at the next referee to take to the centre circle at Oakwell.
“He’s buzzing when he’s there,” she added.
“We didn’t think that he’d actually connect with football, but he does.
“When Louie was younger, he couldn’t go in that kind of environment it was a sensory overload.
“He couldn’t be with the noise, all the people, all the visual things happening around him.
“But as he got a bit older, he did know that that’s where Jake and Tom were going.
“He’s had a season ticket for the last couple of seasons and loves going to away matches.
“Although he’s watching the football, you couldn’t necessarily say to him, ‘Who’s your favourite player?’ but he makes connections in different ways.
“Because McGoldrick does his flexing his guns as a celebration, Louie picked up on that and he does it.
“Louie likes to actually play the ref.
“So when we went on Saturday, they asked who he wanted to meet and he wanted to meet the ref and I think he was taken aback by it.
“He came and met Louie and then fetched him out a referee pack.
“And then obviously, he went out on the pitch and ended up doing the coin toss.
“He absolutely loved it.”
Jodie admits it was an emotional day.
She said: “Behind my sunglasses I was crying because it was a lot for me.
“It meant more because I’ve missed a lot as I didn’t get to go to all the matches.
“But now I’m part of it and I get to see the boys enjoying it.
“But the biggest thing that got me and the reason why I was crying so much is because it was Jake and Louie.
“It was Jake carrying him out and it completely got me.”
