IRISH FOOTBALLER James McClean has been praised for his generosity after he paid for a trip to Disneyland for young twins who recently lost their father.
The Derry native, who plays for both the Republic of Ireland and Stoke City, gifted the trip to the twins as a special birthday surprise after an appeal by their mother to send the children cards went viral.
According to Derry Now, twins Aoife and Adam Burke lost their father suddenly in April after he suffered a heart attack at the young age of 29, and as the family struggled to come to terms with their loss, mother Bronagh was determined to make the twins' fourth birthday a very special one indeed.
She launched an appeal for people across the country and beyond to send birthday cards to her two adorable children, and when the twins woke up this morning on their fourth birthday, they were greeted with over 3,000 cards from people who had been moved by their story.
As the family sifted through the messages of support and celebration in the thousands of cards, they realised one was from McClean and his wife, Erin, and contained tickets for a dream trip to Disneyland.
Bronagh has thanked everyone who took the time to write to Aoife and Adam saying they will be "forever grateful" and it meant so much to the family at this tough time.
A heartwarming video of the Burke family's story was posted to Facebook and shared on Bronagh's page-- you can check that out below.
Happy fourth birthday, Aoife and Adam!