You'll Never Walk Alone

Celtic fan Craig Byrne was delighted at the way football fans rallied to support him after he suffered some online abuse.

- Mark Henderson

CRAIG Byrne has always held his head up high – but now he knows he never walks alone. The Celtic fan from Gartcosh has a rare genetic condition called Apert Syndrome, a condition involving distortions of the head and face and webbing of the hands and feet.

At the start of January a picture of Craig was used in a despicable meme on Twitter. It was eventually taken down thanks to the efforts of his family, particularly older brother Thomas, and the charity Changing Faces, but not before Craig had seen it.

Naturally, it was a distressing experience for the lifelong Hoops supporter, his parents Thomas and Vivien, and the rest of the family. But from this depressing episode emerged something positive. Once the online Celtic community were alerted to the situation they were quick to rally round Craig in tremendous numbers. His Twitter followers soared from 47 to over 4,800, he was inundated by messages of support and solidarity and some even sent him gifts, including the offer of a holiday in Spain.

And it wasn’t just Celtic fans, with supporters of clubs all across the country getting in touch to pass on their support. For Craig and his family, it was all overwhelming and uplifting.

“It’s been incredible,” Craig told the View in an exclusive interview. “The response from the Celtic family and the gifts I have received from different people has been unbelievable and overwhelming for me and my whole family. I have had messages of support from all over the world – South America, Asia, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand which has been incredible.