BRANDT LEWIS, a four-year-old badly bitten by a dog, felt a lot better recently after players and staff of TT Pro League champions Central FC visited him in hospital to give him a signed CONCACAF official Nike football.
Lewis was attacked by a neighbour’s dog at his Belmont home on May 13 and since then has been in the children’s ward at Mount Hope Hospital, where he had to have painful surgery.
His mother, Trina Lewis, had been working as a volunteer with Central FC, who were involved in last week’s 2017 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship finals.
A media release from Central FC said, “Trina was at the Normandie Hotel, St Ann’s, where she was working as a liaison to the visiting team from Antigua and Barbuda, Grenades F, when she received a frantic call from her older son telling her that her four-year-old son had been bitten on the neck, face and arm by a neighbour’s dog.
“Trina rushed home in time to accompany Brandt to Mount Hope Hospital where he underwent surgery.” Central FC operations director Kevin Harrison said, “Everybody wanted to show some kind of support for Brandt, and the CONCACAF officials ageed to donate an official Nike match ball, which was signed by the entire Central FC squad.” “Sharks” striker Tyrik John and Englishman Lloyd Bannister, a former Manchester City and Wolverhampton midfielder, visited Brandt at the children’s ward with team manager Derek Khan to present him with the coveted football.
“Brandt was so excited,” said Lewis, a singer who recently returned to Trinidad after extensive overseas tours. She had volunteered to work as a liaison officer for the tournament while looking for permanent work. Lewis said the visit really lifted Brandt’s spirits.
“He has undergone a lot of pain and trauma and has suffered from nightmares and it is painful for him to smile.
However, he had a constant smile on his face when the team visited and he even insisted on walking the players out when they left. It was very touching for me to see the joy that the Central players brought to Brandt.”