Northampton Town were led out for the Crawley Town game on Saturday by a very special young man.
Cobblers fan Archie, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II, has lost strength in his muscles since birth and as a result requires the use of an electric wheelchair. He is a very inspirational little boy. He never complains, and despite the huge battles he faces he is always fighting with a smile on his face.
SMA is a life-shortening condition where the motor nerve cells in the spinal chord become diseased, which causes a decline in physical strength. As a result, walking and eating become difficult and a simple chest infection could be fatal.
Although there is medication abroad available to treat Archie’s disease, overseas one injection of the drug Spinraza would cost his family about £75,000 every four months for the rest of his life. Archie’s friends and family are campaigning for this drug to be made available on the NHS.
Archie's favourite player is Sam Hoskins. Archie’s hobbies are superheroes, Lego and football.
The Cobblers invited Archie to be a mascot on Saturday to help raise awareness of his condition and his fundraising, while also promoting the celebrity charity game in April that is being held to help raise funds for Archie.
Archie was also on the pitch at half time to promote the game with Nev Wilshire from BBC TV's The Call Centre, Danny Boy Hatchard from EastEnders and Jimmy Constable from 911.
To follow Archie’s fight, please see xarchiesarmyagainstsma on Facebook.