A special visitor to Seel Park this weekend

This Saturday, we’re pleased to be able to welcome a special visitor to Seel Park for our league game against Runcorn Linnets – Joshua Robert Duckworth.

Fans who made the trip to Bootle FC earlier in the season will remember Josh leading the sides out, alongside his fellow players in the Bootle Bucks inclusivity team, and after spending some time Josh and his family our Club Captain, Mark Lees, invited Josh to attend Seel Park as a mascot this weekend.

Josh is a fun-loving, football-mad 8 year old boy who was diagnosed with a rare genetic terminal disease, 4H Leukodystrophy POLR3B, in 2023.

The disease makes up a group of conditions that affect the white matter of the brain, affecting the nerves. It is a progressive disease, meaning that Josh’s condition will worsen over time to the extent that he could lose his ability to walk, talk and carry out the normal day-to-day things, along with the things he loves to do. There is currently no treatment or cure available.

Josh’s family have created a GoFundMe for Josh’s future. It will support him and his family to make memories and to make his life easier when the disease starts to progress and his needs change. Nobody knows what the future holds for Josh but he has so much love and support from his family, friends and others that are always around him and we’re pleased that we can play a small part in making Josh feel welcome at our ground this Saturday. You can view the page and donate if you can, by clicking here.

You can follow Josh’s journey on the JRD foundation FaceBook page as well.

We hope you have a great day at Seel Park, Josh!