A sports mascot interacts with plenty of children over the course of every game, and it’s an encounter that we often pay very little attention. One such encounter at a recent minor league baseball game, however, is one that stands out just a little.
Hunter Samworth is a 7-year-old boy from Germantown, Ohio. He’s also deaf. That makes it a little more difficult for him to communicate with people, let alone mascots. At a recent Dayton Dragons game, though, Hunter was in for quite the surprise.
He ended up running into the Dragons’ mascot, Heater, outside the ballpark.
“My wife told him in sign,’Tell Heater it’s nice to meet you,'” Hunter’s dad, Matt, told Today.com. “So he walks up to Heater and signs that to him.”
Little did anyone know, but the person inside the Heater mascot is studying sign language. The Dragons staff person with the mascot? Also fluent in sign language. That led to a memorable and adorable exchange.
“The smile on his face was ear to ear,” Matt added. “I couldn’t even speak. I was just in awe. I was like, this is something that he’s going to remember for the rest of his life.”
Hat tip to SB Nation for sharing.
