“I want Huddy to grow up knowing that he belongs everywhere, that he is capable of great things, and that Down syndrome does not limit the joy and the opportunities he deserves in life,” his mother, Melanie Droubay, told KSL, according to 20min.ch. The five-year-old from Utah, Hudson “Huddy” Droubay, who lives with Trisomy 21, has now spent time with David Beckham, walked onto the pitch alongside Lionel Messi and visited Inter Miami’s team locker room.

The meeting came after a video Melanie Droubay posted a little over a year ago went viral, showing her son playing soccer in a city league and reaching millions of viewers. Beckham commented on it, and the exchange set off a chain of events that ended with Huddy at an Inter Miami match this summer.

The video Beckham called the sweetest smile he’d seen

Melanie Droubay told KSL that Beckham said he saw in the video “the sweetest smile he had ever seen on a football pitch.” Beckham later sent Huddy signed jerseys, and an invitation to an Inter Miami game followed in the summer.

At the match, Beckham and the boy wore identical shirts: “Mr. David” was printed on the back of Beckham’s. That is what Huddy calls him, ever since he sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. David” to him, the family said.

Jerseys signed, goals scored, then a surprise with Messi

Beckham and Huddy signed each other’s jerseys and took a few shots on the grass together. According to the family, they knew only about the Beckham meeting and the match visit beforehand. That Huddy would then be allowed to run onto the field with Messi was a surprise, Melanie Droubay said. Afterward, Huddy was also taken into the team’s locker room.

Youngest of five, and the star of the show

Huddy is the youngest of five children. In his family, he is the “star of the show,” Melanie Droubay said.

Questions readers are asking about Huddy Droubay

• Huddy met David Beckham after the footballer commented on a viral video of the boy and invited him to an Inter Miami game. His mother posted a video of him playing in a city league soccer match a little over a year ago. It reached millions of people, Beckham commented on it, and he later sent Huddy signed jerseys before inviting him to an Inter Miami game.
• Melanie Droubay told KSL that Beckham described Huddy’s smile in the clip as the sweetest he had ever seen on a football pitch.
• During an Inter Miami game, Huddy walked onto the field with Messi and visited the team locker room. At the Inter Miami match, Huddy walked onto the field alongside Lionel Messi and was then allowed into the team locker room. The Messi appearance was a surprise to the family, which had expected only the Beckham meeting.