Parenting is tricky business, especially when your child is in the toddler age group. At this age, toddlers like to run around and put everything they can find into their mouths. And recently, a woman in Ohio was faced with her worst fear when she took her two-year-old son to watch a professional soccer game. As she looked away for her minute, the toddler dashed onto the soccer field as the game was in progress. The woman, upon spotting her son, ran into the field and tackled him safely, before scooping him in her arms and rushing back to the stands.
An image of the incident was captured by photojournalist Sam Greene and shared on Twitter. “A young pitch invader was quickly scooped up by their own personal security detail without incident,” Mr Greene, who works for The Cincinnati Enquirer, said on Twitter. It was no surprise that the image soon went viral.
According to a report by Today, the incident occurred during the match between FC Cincinnati vs. Orlando City SC match on August 7. The toddler was later identified to be Zaydek Carpenter. His mother is Morgan Tucker from Moscow, Ohio.
The official Twitter page of Major League Soccer also tweeted a clip of the incident which had users in splits. Along with the clip, the tweet said, “We hope this mother and her young pitch invader are having a great day.” Published on August 9, the video has received 245,100 views.
Speaking to Good Morning America about the incident, Ms Tucker said, “I literally looked away for one second and saw he was under the fence and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.'” She said that she had to “jump over the gate” sprint after him. “I was so scared he was going to get hit in the head with a soccer ball.”
Ms Tucker said that she asked her son why he pulled such a stunt. To this, he had a rather simple answer. Quoting him, she said, “‘Mom, soccer ball'. He was really into the game and when the players would go to the other side of the field, he was not happy, so he wanted them to be there with him.”
Reacting to the video of the incident, several users praised Ms Tucker for her presence of mind and quick action.
After seeing the video, one user declared that toddlers had to be the fastest humans on Earth. “Toddlers! The fastest humans on earth. If you haven't had one of these 2 seconds of public fame, or should I say 'shame,' are you a parent?!”
Author Beverly Jenkins said that all mothers have had to chase down toddlers at one point.
Another user praised Ms Tucker's agility.
“I'd probably have to do this with my husband if we ever had pitch-side seats at an Astonvilla match,” one user joked.
Maybe Ms Tucker should join the team, another user suggested.
She's a hero, another user said.
So, did the mother-son duo stay to watch the rest of the match? Well, they did and they had a great time, too, confirmed Mr Greene with another photo. “Zaydek and his mom had a great time at the game,” he wrote.
Ms Tucker said that this was her son's first live match and he couldn't really have asked for a better start, could he?
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