Dad and son left moved by rugby fan’s kind gesture
A DAD who took his son to his first ever rugby match said he was nearly moved to tears by a Wales fan’s random act of kindness.
Jonah Fisher took his 10-year-old son Max to see the Wales v Fiji game at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday.
Stood in front of a group of rowdy Wales fans while looking forward to the game, Jonah and Max moved to sit in a quieter area after some beer was dropped on them. But as they were leaving, Jonah said one of the men ran after them and offered Max £20 to buy himself something nice, like a match scarf, as he apologised for what happened.
The father and son had moved to live in Cardiff from Kyiv in Ukraine just a few days before the game as Jonah, a BBC correspondent, relocated for work.
Jonah said it had been a time of intense change for Max as not only did it mean starting a new school, but it would also be some time before his mum and sister also joined them in Cardiff.
Jonah said the act of kindness by a complete stranger blew him and Max away as they settled into their new home, prompting him to share the story on Twitter.
In an online thread, he posted: “So I’ve just moved to Cardiff... and today I took my 10 year old son to the rugby... Wales v Fiji. He’s been really excited about coming here... we’ve kicked and thrown a rugby ball around Kyiv... but this was his first ever match. It was a big deal.
“We arrived at the stadium an hour and a half before the game kicked off... he was that keen that we not miss a moment. The anthems were great... the fireworks amazing... the match kicked off... Fiji fought well... Sitting behind us were some loud Welsh twentysomethings... who clambered into their seats just before kick-off... their arms laden with beers... for my boy who’s lived a bit of a sheltered foreign life it was a bit of an eye-opener.
“And the language a bit lively but I reassured him it was all part of the fun and we enjoyed the first half... despite a light sprinkling of beer... As the second half kicked off we got covered with some more beer as they returned to their seats... and so we decided to move a row further down to some spare seats where we enjoyed the rest of the game.”
He said as they left slightly early to catch their train home, one of the men ran towards them as they were going down the stairs of the stadium.
Jonah continued: “To my amazement he took out a £20 note and pressed it into my son’s hand. I protested and protested that I understood there was no malice in the beer... and to keep the money... ‘buy yourself a scarf on the way out’ he told my son.
“I heard this is your first game – I want you to enjoy it”... So we took the £20... and my son is now deciding what to spend his money on... Thank you to that Welsh rugby fan – for making my son’s first match so special.”
Jonah told the Echo he was moved by the kindness of the stranger, and wanted to share the warmth he and his son felt.
He added: “I was moved to tears a little bit that it was just such a nice thing to have happened. We’ve lived around the world and the world can be quite a tough place at times, and at a vulnerable time with our lives changing, a new school and no mum here and just for someone to have that moment of kindness, it hits you.
“I decided to tweet about it because the world isn’t full of news about people doing nice things so I thought I’d put it out there s people can see some good in the world.
“Max was blown away by it, he couldn’t quite believe it. We’d been to football matches in Ukraine and nothing like that has ever happened before with people being spontaneously kind and generous.”