A BRAVE Burnley youngster took centre stage as he lined up for his first game of football since losing his legs after contracting meningitis last August.
Football fan Johua Ford, who celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday, joined his Ighten Leigh Junior FC team-mates for pre-season training in Burnley, involving fitness drills, ball control and a football match.
He later said it felt "natural" despite having to play with new prosthetic legs and even scored a sensational goal, chipping the ball over the advancing goalkeeper's head into the back-of-the-net.
It proved to be an emotional day for his mum Lisa, sister Lauren and dad Darren who hadn't seen Joshua play in almost a year. Darren said: "Last time I saw him play was on the same pitch before he got poorly. Now, less than a year on he is playing on the same pitch with prosthetic legs. It was like 'wow' – absolutely unbelievable."
He added: "Everyone was very supportive and I would just like to say a big thank you to the team's manager Barry Fothergill and the players and parents. It was an incredible day."
>>Boy (9) loses legs in meningitis battle>>Brave Joshua meets his Chelsea soccer heroes>>Burnley rallies behind brave Joshua
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