Sunderland defender Bailey Wright ‘made an old man very happy’ after surprising him with a call earlier this week.
Lifelong Black Cats fan John Sunley was delighted to hear from the defender, who called him after finding out how much he was missing matchdays.
The pair chatted all things red and white, including how 73-year-old John started following the Lads; Aussie hairdos as well as Luke O’Nien’s choice of transport!
The call came as a result of John’s son, Gavin, nominating him as part of the EFL and its club’s coming together with charity partner Mind, to collectively mark World Mental Health Day.
Mind’s ‘do one thing’ campaign aims to inspire people to make one small change or take one action to look after their mental health. As part of the campaign, Sunderland AFC’s charity, the Foundation of Light played their part to ‘do one thing’ to say thank you to someone deserving within the local community.
Gavin explained that John was really struggling with not getting out to games and missed watching his ‘red and white wizards’ and you can see how much the Zoom call from Bailey meant to him below:
For more heart-warming stories from the club’s official charity subscribe to the Foundation's official YouTube channel.
Together with the EFL, the Foundation of Light, continue to help reconnect people and encourage conversations, whether that be through phonecalls, online sessions, garden gate visits or delivering activity packs as part of the Tackling Loneliness Together programme. Click here for details.
For more information on how to get involved with ‘Do one thing’ on World Mental Health Day click here