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A young football fan with a rare heart condition achieved a long-held dream when a local team assisted him in scoring his first touchdown in Keystone Heights, Florida.

Austin Booth, age 12, was diagnosed with complex congenital heart disease at birth, along with several other illnesses and conditions that led doctors to give him a life expectancy of 8 to 9 years, according to his mother, Angelia Booth.

Angelia, who refers to Austin as her inspiration, knew it had always been a dream of his to score a touchdown on a football field.

Austin is not able to run very far or do extreme amounts of physical activity, so scoring a touchdown was almost out of the question. But his mother asked in a Facebook post if anyone could help Austin realize his dream.

Community members tagged Jason Parmeter, the coach and manager of the Keystone Heights Youth Football Association, in the post. He replied and invited Angelia and Austin down to join his team during a game on October 13.

When the day arrived, the players gave Austin his own jersey, number 13, practiced catching the ball with him before the game, and set up the perfect play for his dream to finally come true. The team even made sure that Booth’s condition wouldn’t prevent him from carrying the flag at the beginning of the game, as one teammate carried Austin out onto the field while another held the flag and ran alongside them.

Right before halftime, the team called Austin out onto the field and explained what they were going to do, and then it was game time. The crowd began to chant, “Let’s go, Austin,” repeatedly as he walked over to the football and the play officially began. One of the players from the Keystone Heights team can be seen handing the ball off to Austin, and then kneeling down so Austin can easily jump on his back. As soon as Austin is secure, his new team member takes off down the field and into the end zone so Austin can score his official touchdown.

The crowd then cheered and chanted. The opposing team, Argyle Forest, celebrated with Austin as well, and the Keystone Heights coach carried Austin back to the sideline on his shoulders as the boy dabbed.

“Austin was overtaken with complete surprise that someone would do all of this for him. He made new friends and was part of a team,” his mom told Storyful. Angelia said she was “overwhelmed with emotions, crying, and just couldn’t believe what all had been done for my son. A lifelong dream had come true!”

“We knew that he would possibly make a touchdown and receive a T-shirt, but we didn’t expect what happened. It was a complete surprise,” Angelia told Storyful. Credit: Angelia Booth via Storyful