{"id":6355,"date":"2024-12-01T01:53:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T01:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355"},"modified":"2024-12-01T01:53:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T01:53:44","slug":"warming-hearts-virgil-van-dijk-and-mo-salah-have-liverpool-fans-in-tears-with-touching-gesture-to-young-supporter-who-was-born-with-the-rare-genetic-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355","title":{"rendered":"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter &#8211; who was born with the rare genetic disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite having just three days to prepare for Sunday\u2019s huge Premier League clash against Manchester City, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk spent Friday morning visiting six-year-old Liverpool fan, Isaac.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Isaac has become a popular figure within the Liverpool fan community for his versions of iconic chants that are sung around Anfield. The young fan has gone viral on social media for using his toy guitar to sing Liverpool songs, as he refuses to allow his disorder to get in the way of passionately supporting the Reds.<\/p>\n<p>Six years ago, Isaac was born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, which means he develops at a slower rate than other children his age. Van Dijk and Salah heard about Isaac\u2019s story, and decided to surprise him on Friday morning at Northwood Primary School.<\/p>\n<p><em><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpool.com\/article30483860.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1227b\/1_isaac-surprise-gallery-27112024-2jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Virgil van Dijk turned up unannounced at Isaac\u2019s school as he walked into his classroom on Friday morning.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpool.com\/article30483851.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1227b\/0_isaac-gallery-update-2-29112024jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>While coming to terms with meeting his hero, Isaac then met Mohamed Salah who joined Van Dijk in the classroom.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Isaac was playing Snakes and Ladders when Van Dijk approached his desk, and soon after, Salah appeared, as the two Liverpool stars delivered the ultimate surprise. Fittingly, Isaac had his Van Dijk and Salah toys with him, as he brings them to school every day.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nEWMAMEibw?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpool.com\/article30483879.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1227b\/0_isaac-surprise-gallery-27112024-6jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Isaac showed off his Liverpool toys that accompany him to school each day, a replica of both Salah and Van Dijk.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>After meeting his heroes, Isaac joined Van Dijk and Salah on a tour of Liverpool\u2019s AXA Training Centre. He met with Liverpool\u2019s head coach, Arne Slot, and the rest of the squad.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpool.com\/article30483864.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1227b\/0_isaac-surprise-gallery-27112024-gjpeg.jpg\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpool.com\/article30483867.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1227b\/0_isaac-surprise-gallery-27112024-ajpeg.jpg\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpool.com\/article30483885.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1227b\/0_isaac-surprise-gallery-27112024-hjpeg.jpg\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpool.com\/article30483895.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1227b\/0_isaac-surprise-gallery-27112024-ejpeg.jpg\" alt=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Liverpool then trained as normal, but Isaac was treated to one more surprise once Friday\u2019s preparations were completed. Isaac was told he will accompany Van Dijk at Anfield on Sunday as the official mascot for Liverpool\u2019s game versus City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite having just three days to prepare for Sunday\u2019s huge Premier League clash against Manchester City, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk spent Friday morning visiting six-year-old Liverpool fan, Isaac. Isaac has become a popular figure within the Liverpool fan&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-football"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite having just three days to prepare for Sunday\u2019s huge Premier League clash against Manchester City, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk spent Friday morning visiting six-year-old Liverpool fan, Isaac. Isaac has become a popular figure within the Liverpool fan...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-01T01:53:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355\",\"name\":\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-01T01:53:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-01T01:53:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter &#8211; who was born with the rare genetic disorder\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Despite having just three days to prepare for Sunday\u2019s huge Premier League clash against Manchester City, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk spent Friday morning visiting six-year-old Liverpool fan, Isaac. Isaac has become a popular figure within the Liverpool fan...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2024-12-01T01:53:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355","name":"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter - who was born with the rare genetic disorder - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096","datePublished":"2024-12-01T01:53:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-01T01:53:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gdj09nAWcAANjDD?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=6355#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WARMING HEARTS: Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have Liverpool fans in tears with touching gesture to young supporter &#8211; who was born with the rare genetic disorder"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6356,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6355\/revisions\/6356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}