Young Thomas Nakedi Hamase (12) was all smiles last Wednesday after meeting his hero Josta Dladla and the entire team at Soccer City Complex.

The Grade 7 pupil at Legora Primary School was diagnosed with a life threatening illness which caused him to be hospitalised for a solid four months. It was during this time that he was introduced to the Reach for a Dream Foundation.

The Doctors told his parents that the condition would cause him to be paralyzed and would affect his speech as well as his cognitive functioning. Nakedi managed to fight for his life and is now attending school and is able to function normally without paralysis and is responding well to treatment.

His long cherished dream was to go to the soccer stadium and meet his favourite team Kaizer Chiefs as well as his favourite player Josta Dladla.

Reach for a Dream approached Kaizer Chiefs and the rest was history as Marketing Director, Jessica Motaung commented to kaizerchiefs.com, “We were inspired to hear the remarkable story of Nakedi and there was no hesitation on our side to decide to invite him for our game against Mamelodi Sundowns.

“He is a warrior if you take into consideration what he had to go through at his age. We hope that the match result also provided a complete experience for him,” added Jessica.

Josta Dladla was also happy to meet the young Nakedi; “He is a strong boy. His story was inspirational not only to me but to all my teammates. I am pleased that we were able to win the game to add to his experience."

Head Coach, Stuart Baxter was also at hand to take the young man to the pitch to watch the team going through their paces for warm up ahead of the game.

He thanked Kaizer Chiefs for the experience, “It has always been my dream to meet my hero Josta Dladla, the team and I am happy to be here today. Thanks to Reach for a Dream and Kaizer Chiefs.”