THERE were smiles of excitement and tears of joy as a very special schoolboy had the chance to meet his Celtic hero.

Noah Connell was dazzled by a surprise visit from Parkhead ace Jota, which left he and his mum Jade Gordon completely overwhelmed.

The Glasgow Times told earlier this year how the five-year-old was off to start primary one - despite doctors fears he might never reach that milestone.

Now Noah is settled in to P1 at Kelbourne Park Primary School and having the time of his life.

Glasgow Times:

The visit was organised by charity the John O'Byrne Foundation, which supports sick kids and their families.

Noah was only told he was going out on a trip in a taxi - and Jota's presence was kept secret until the last minute.

READ MORE: Amazing little boy Noah Connell is off to school 

Jade said: "He was facing the stairs and Jota started walking down towards him.

"Noah had to do a double look because he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Jota was smiling and talking away and Noah's response was amazing.

Glasgow Times:

"I have never seen Noah act like that with someone that he doesn't know, he was holding his hand and rubbing his hand and rubbing his face because he was so in awe."

And Jade has a photograph from the experience that she will treasure forever.

She added: "You can tell from Noah's face in the photo that he just loves Jota.

"That photo captures an amazing memory that we can keep and show him when he grows up."

Noah took Jade and dad Kieran Connell, from Barmulloch, completely by surprise when he was born in May 2017.

Jade had no idea she was pregnant but was delighted when Noah made his unexpected arrival.

He was the first child in the UK to have a complex procedure where metal scaffolding was screwed into his face to help shift his jaw and let him breathe.

Noah was born with part of his spine missing, an underdeveloped jaw, cleft palate, small neck and floppy airway.

Glasgow Times:

He has Pierre Robin sequence, facial abnormalities that cause problems with breathing and mean he cannot swallow, and even getting caught in the rain could kill him if water entered his mouth.

Noah also has hemifacial microsomia, which means the lower half of one side of his face is underdeveloped.

But he's been enjoying life and loves anything to do with trains or his beloved Celtic.
Celtic fans coined a new terrace song for Portuguese signing Jota and Noah loves putting the tune on YouTube and playing it.

At the meeting the winger sang for him while Noah kicked his legs and clapped along with his mum adding: "He was going mental in that wheelchair".

Jota also signed two Celtic tops for Noah, which Jade is going to have framed.

She added: "There's no words to describe how unreal it was.

"Jota was amazing. Quite often when you tell people that Noah is non-verbal they get uncomfortable and don't know what to do or say.

"But Jota wasn't like that. He held Noah's hand and chatted away and sang to him the whole time, he made us feel comfortable and welcome.

"He made Noah feel included and that was lovely to see, even though Noah couldn't speak back to him.

"He and his girlfriend were also talking about how cold it is in Scotland."

READ MORE: Inspirational Noah has behind the scenes tour of Central Station

Jade said: "I would just like to say a massive thank you to John O'Byrne as well, for making this happen and helping us create such a big, big memory."

Thanks to the Foundation, Noah was also able to attend his first in-person Celtic match at Parkhead earlier this year. 

Jade added: "John knows how much these memories mean to the kids so he always goes that bit extra to make them really special.

"He's really wonderful."