Kai Evitt surprises Kenny Arthur to say thanks for special gloves

Kai Evitt was born with Ectrodactyly, a condition that causes deformities in his hands and feet which made his dream of playing as a goalkeeper difficult as he couldn't wear gloves.

His godmother, Ashlea Irvine, got in touch with some of football's biggest companies to try and get a pair specially made but got no help - until reaching out to the ex-Jags keeper.

READ MORE: Disabled boy's Christmas football dreams come true thanks to Partick Thistle keeper

Arthur's company, Kaliaaer, designed and sent two pairs of bespoke gloves out to Kai for free in December - and the youngster and his family decided to thank the Thistle coach by surprising him at Firhill.

After being told he was meeting scouts about prospective signings, Arthur was shocked after walking into the boardroom at Thistle's stadium to find Kai.

The two exchanged a warm hug and Kai was given a signed Partick Thistle match ball.

"It was really, really, really amazing seeing his face," said Kai. "I really enjoyed it when he took me on the pitch and when I got the match ball with all the signatures. I was delighted, so I was."

And the nine-year-old Manchester United fan from Belfast said he has been getting good use out of his new gloves.

"I got to play in my first match just there, playing against Linfield," he said. "It finished six-each and I made lots of saves!"

Kai reckons he might play for Partick Thistle one day - although the Firhill club might face some stiff competition for his signature by the sound of it.

"It will either be Man United or Partick Thistle, I’ll need to make my mind up," he added.

Arthur said he was delighted to finally meet Kai - and promised that he'll send over more gloves if Kai ever needs them.

"I was blown away when I met him. I thought I was speaking to some scouts! I’ve been stitched up and I should have seen it coming," he laughed. "It was brilliant to see him, it was the first time we have met in person.

"He can be our flagship athlete if he likes. Anything he needs, we can sort him out no problem. You can see how much he likes his football. Even on the pitch here he was desperate to get a ball and dive about. It’s an absolute pleasure to help out as much as possible.

"Anything he needs we’ll sort out – we’ll get some Partick Thistle colours for next time!"

For a while, Ashlea's search for the special gloves Kai needs looked like it was going nowhere. So much so, that Kai had even given up wishing for them.

"I’ve never said no to Kai so when Darren and Deborah [Kai's parents] were deflated about getting him gloves, I started looking for them.

"I started looking on the Sports Direct website and looked at every company that made gloves and started going through my list. I emailed each of them a short message but we weren’t getting anything back from big companies. There was a few that wished us well and hoped that we could get further but unfortunately they couldn’t help.

"We then came across Kenny. I typed out an email on my way to work at around eight o’clock and by lunchtime there was an email back from Kenny, asking for more information and saying that he would love to help.

"There was some back and forth and we sent some pictures of Kai’s hands. Within eight days we had a first draft of the gloves sitting in my inbox. We were just so excited.

"I think at that point he knew that he wasn’t going to get football gloves and it was out of his mind. He wasn’t going to ask for them anymore, he had already asked his mummy and daddy and they had already told him that they had tried really hard and couldn’t get them any further.

"I think at that point he had lost the thought that he was actually going to get the gloves.

"I told him I had emailed a company and they had made him something very special and he couldn’t get the box open fast enough. Not only did Kenny send one pair, he sent two pairs of gloves.

"He’s got two sets and he has really got his use out of them, and he is just so happy."