showing a reunion between a little boy and a professional soccer player who are both missing their left forearms has gone viral.
In April, 21-month-old Joseph Tiddâs father took him to the season opener for the Orlando Pride, a U.S. womenâs professional soccer team in Florida. Following the game, Miles Tidd said they waited around to meet one player, in particular.
That player was Carson Pickett, a 25-year-old defender for the Orlando Pride who, like Joseph, was born without her left forearm.
Although the young boy didnât know who Pickett was, Miles Tidd said it didnât take long before the pair clicked.
âHe saw Carsonâs arm and I think Carson had pointed to her arm and then pointed to his and said something like âWe have the same arm,ââ Miles Tidd recalled during a telephone interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday.
âIt was the âAhaâ moment. You can just see this look wash over Josephâs face where he instantly stops and then he just stares at Carson, looks at her face, looks at her arm.â
After that moment, Miles Tidd said Joseph and Pickett spent the next half hour playing and laughing.
âHe didnât want to leave her side. He realized in that moment who she was and what made her special is also the same thing that made him special,â he said. âYou could definitely tell they kind of made that bond right there and then.â
Josephâs father also said he had the opportunity to speak with Pickettâs parents, who attend all of her games. He said her father gave him one important piece of advice that heâs tried to incorporate in his own home.
âCarsonâs dad said he never allowed her to say âI canât.â He just said âYou can. Weâve just got to find a way,ââ Miles Tidd said. âI thought that was pretty neat.â
Following that first meeting with Pickett in April, the Tidd family has met the soccer player on two more occasions.
On the third time, in early June, Josephâs mother Colleen Tidd snapped several adorable photos of her son greeting Pickett after the game.
, which has since gone viral, Pickett can be seen leaning over the seats to give Joseph a fist bump. In that image, and several subsequent ones, Joseph is shown with a huge smile on his face.
Although the photo was first shared in early June on Josephâs Instagram account, it really gained attention when it was widely circulated on various social media sites on Sunday.
âItâs brought so much awareness to those who arenât familiar with the limb difference community,â Colleen Tidd said. âWeâve had so many people message us saying âHey, I look just like Joseph. I didnât know there was a community out here.â So those are the moments that I absolutely cherish.â
Miles Tidd said Josephâs bond with Pickett and his earlier introduction to Seattle Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffen, who had his left hand amputated when he was a child, will give him people to look up to when heâs older.
âObviously, Joseph doesnât understand how hard it is to do what they have done, but we do,â he explained. âHaving examples like that reinforces that idea that âI canâtâ is really not something that he should even think about.â
Until then, the Tidds say Joseph is content to play with any ball he can find in the best way that suits him.
âI just want people to realize that no matter the way that you look. It really doesnât matter. Youâre able to accomplish it all. You might just do it a little differently,â Colleen Tidd said.