When inspiration goes both ways
Talented young TFC fan beats odds and spreads hope
Walk down the halls of Toronto FC’s training facility with Murphy Malone and you won’t get very far without being stopped.
Defender Drew Moor, on his way in from practice, shares a hug and accepts congratulations on the birth of his second son from Murph — as the 12-year-old is known around the team.
It’s not long before Justin Morrow and Eriq Zavaleta join in, fawning over the youngster so much that he misses a high-five from striker Jordan Hamilton as he fields questions from every direction.
Outside on the pitch where other TFC players are lingering, Murph is approached by assistant coach Dan Calichman, wondering what brought the boy from Cheshire, Conn., to town and — jokingly — why he wasn’t helping set up cones for practice.
Then there’s Danny Dichio, a Reds legend coaching Toronto FC III on the neighbouring field, imploring Murphy to return a stray ball.
For all the stars in the house, few shone quite as brightly as the young soccer player whose love of the sport was a comfort after multiple heart surgeries to correct a congenital defect: transposition of the great arteries, which had led to a shortness of oxygen.
In a feel-good move, he became Toronto FC’s youngest-ever signing last July, after years of supporting the Reds from a hospital bed. But his most recent visit flew under the radar — among more than 100 kids dressed in full TFC uniforms at Downsview Park for a week-long camp run by the Major League Soccer franchise.
Being a regular kid has always been a goal for Murphy and his parents, Shane Malone and Kathleen Maloney. The youngster prefers talking soccer over the health scares that began at birth. He’s well versed in the English Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A, as well as his own playing days with Cheshire Soccer Club and the Farmington Soccer Association — and, of course, MLS.
“I hope (Toronto FC) win the MLS Cup. They show really strong talent,” he said this week. “They really could and should, but it’s unpredictable. But I think they’ll win it.”
Becoming a part of the Reds organization has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Murphy, who faced major surgery within an hour of being born while essentially suffocating. Health problems had interrupted his soccer career from the time he started with a ball at his feet at age 5 until he was about 10 years old. But the past 14 months or so have been more or less smooth sailing, his parents said, except for a complication that landed the boy in hospital less than a week before Toronto FC’s MLS Cup final appearance last December. It didn’t stop him from representing, though. He wore a Reds T-shirt while in hospital, and recovered in time to sit in the freezing cold stands for that heartbreaking loss to the Seattle Sounders.
“It was fine,” he said nonchalantly, dismissing the sub-zero temperatures with a flick of the wrist.
Murphy was already well known to TFC by then. His love of the team began about five years ago, when his own team in Cheshire wore similar colours. His dream was to meet strikers Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, so the family reached out to the club.
What followed was a surprise weekend invitation to Toronto in early July to sign the contract, train and eat with the club, meet the players and catch his first live TFC game.
“I’m still lost for words,” he said at the time.
For athletes, meeting young fans with stories like Murphy’s is not uncommon. So what is it about him that makes so many Reds keep in touch?
Defender Steven Beitashour credit his attitude and spirit, as well as a wicked sense of humour on social media. Murphy has become a goodhumoured troll of Toronto FC’s upcoming opponents online, and the players love it.
“It’s not like he’s asking for things,” Beitashour said Thursday, before stopping in to see Murphy at the camp. “Typically, we’re used to fans asking for jerseys, asking for this or that. It’s completely switched for him. He wants to give things to other people. It shows what a kind heart he has.”
Mom Kathleen said Murphy is always worrying about TFC’s players, like when Beitashour lacerated his pancreas in a game against Montreal this year, and Nick Hagglund suffered two significant knee injuries, and Moor missed a stretch with an irregular heartbeat — the latter hitting particularly close to home.
“That’s the bogeyman for us,” she said. The concern goes both ways. When players learned Malone was in hospital last winter, the family’s phone lit up with well wishes.
Murphy says he’s incredibly grateful for the friendships he has made, which “means everything” to his family.
“They’re professional sports people and they still find the time to come over and shake his hand and thank him for coming,” his mother said. “At the human level, it’s very, very humbling. He has had a journey that has been challenging often, and for them to honour that journey with their kindness and their gestures, I’m awful grateful to them.”
There was “a lot of making deals with God” as he grew up, Kathleen added, but Murphy’s condition is now considered “surgically managed.” While he is still monitored and has to go for a barrage of tests every year — “the parade of ’ologists,” as she puts it — the family says it’s prepared for anything.
After his week in Toronto, Murphy will return to Cheshire. But things won’t be quite the same.
He was recently selected to join the elite United States youth soccer Olympic development program, which begins in September.
“That’s the kind of thing, I tap him on the back and then I go into the kitchen and have a good snuffle and go: I can’t believe this,” mom Kathleen said. “I would never have thought we would get there.”