A seven-year-old girl was left “crying with happiness” after receiving a personal message from Arsenal player Alessia Russo for her birthday.
Naomi Abehsera, 16, from north-west London, surprised her younger sister, Abby, with a teddy bear containing a voice note from Ms Russo, wishing her a happy birthday.
She said the message was particularly special to Abby, who wants to be a footballer.
“She was so happy. She was very emotional. At first, she was just in genuine disbelief,” Naomi said.
Naomi had the voice note loaded on to a device and sewn into the bear, which she gave to her sister along with a signed shirt from her favourite football player.
The A-level student posted her sister’s reaction on X, formerly Twitter, which shows her screaming after realising the personalised message was from the Arsenal forward.
“She started crying with happiness,” Naomi said.
The message left by Russo said: “Hi Abby, happy birthday. Hope you have a lovely day.”
Naomi reached Russo via a post on X, which the footballer reposted.
“[Russo is] such a real player. She really does connect with her fans and takes the time to speak to them and meet them,” she said.
Naomi, who also plays football, began watching the Arsenal Women’s team and the Lionesses to help her through a knee injury.
“At first [Abby] actually said to me, ‘girls can’t play football’ because you don’t know that unless it’s being represented,” Naomi said.
“During the Euros, we watched all the matches together, and that’s when Abby really clicked with them and from day one Alessia has always been one of her favourites.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckrpdnnj4eyo
