An American toddler and Brisbane Roar star Carson Pickett have come together for one of the photos of 2019.
Pickett has been in the headlines this week after a heart-warming image of the Orlando Pride defender and 21-month-old Floridian Joseph Tidd went viral.
Both Pickett, 26, and Tidd were born without a left forearm.
But the picture - posted on Instagram in June by Tidd’s parents – shows Pickett and the young Orlando fan beaming from ear to ear, revelling in the special connection they share.
The photo took off online this week after Florida Gators coach Becky Bureligh, a former college mentor of Pickett, re-posted a separate image of Tidd and Pickett meeting up recently.
The pair’s bond has caught the attention of The Today Show in the United States and Fox News.
“Carson knelt down next to Joseph and showed him her arm,” Joseph’s father, Miles Tidd, said of the pair’s first meeting – which was in Orlando’s season-opener against Portland Thorns in April.
“It was this instant bond we can’t begin to understand.”
Feature image: tiddbit_outta_hand on Instagram
