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Gritty surprises kid with custom Gritty prosthetic leg

Just look at that kid's face.

Heather Dockray

on June 25, 2019

Gritty is so many things, but above all, he's a big hairy piece of joy.

On Tuesday, Gritty, the legendary Philadelphia Flyers mascot, surprised 7-year-old fan Caiden O'Rourke at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Gritty was there to deliver a custom Gritty-themed prosthetic leg to Caiden, who was born with a rare orthopedic condition that requires him to use two prosthetic legs.

Caiden, whose birthday is in a week, seemed thrilled to receive it. Look at his face.

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Hospital staff reached out to the Flyers after Caiden requested that his next prosthetic be Gritty-themed. Caiden has had multiple sports-themed prosthetic legs in the past, many of them from Philadelphia teams, according to Fox 29.

Caiden also received a custom Philadelphia Flyers jersey.

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Twitter was delighted by the entire exchange.

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Gritty, please consider coming to the Mashable office to meet me, a 35-year-old adult.

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Heather Dockray

Heather was the Web Trends reporter at Mashable NYC. Prior to joining Mashable, Heather wrote regularly for UPROXX and GOOD Magazine, was published in The Daily Dot and VICE, and had her work featured in Entertainment Weekly, Jezebel, Mic, and Gawker. She loves small terrible dogs and responsible driving. Follow her on Twitter @wear_a_helmet.