A woman was touched after a Blue Jays star offered to sign a jersey for her ailing husband

Ontario resident Carla Norris-Hutcheson said she never thought she'd be giving her ailing husband a Blue Jays jersey as she sat alone with a few friendly strangers at the team's home opener.

She said one minute she was talking to a group of guys, and the next they were handing her a gift bag containing her husband's favorite blue George Springer shirt, a gift to get her through this tough time. in the hospital.

“I just started crying,” Hutcheson told CTV News Toronto on Monday. “I'm really impressed that they did that for us. I told my husband what happened and he felt happy.''

“He felt really great that someone cared about me, but he couldn't.”

Her husband, Paul Cleet, is in Toronto General Hospital with liver failure. Hutcheson said he has been visiting from Gananoque for the past two weeks since being admitted.

Hutcheson said she attended the game at her husband's insistence. He had spent long days and nights in the hospital, and she wanted him to have a little fun and celebrate their anniversary.

“I was very nervous. “I never went to a game alone,” he said. “I was scared because you don't know who you're going to sit with, maybe they won't talk to me, but everyone was so friendly.”

“It was a long journey, every night I was alone in the hotel and in the room watching him sleep and trying to help.”

It got even more shocking, he told CTV News Toronto, when star quarterback George Springer and his team tracked him down on social media and offered to sign a jersey.

“My husband was shocked. “He thought it was a joke,” she says. “He's very excited and wants to go to the game, but for now he's watching it on TV.”

Despite being a huge Blue Jays fan, Hutcheson said Kleet had never owned a jersey before. He's never been to a game, he said, because he's a truck driver for Tim Hortons and is always on the road, so this autographed jersey will be special.

“We always said we'd go to a game this summer, but it's been tough on him,” Hutcheson said.

Laura Brady, a Toronto resident and Blue Jays fan, told CTV News Toronto that she witnessed all the kindness at the home opener on Monday and shared the story on social media to inspire others.

“It was just a kind gesture,” Brady said. “It was great to witness.”

He said he never expected that representatives of George Springer would contact him and ask him to contact Hutcheson, who had no number or name. He said his post went viral on social media.

Eventually, Hutcheson was found after a friend in Gananoque saw a note from Brady and learned it was about Hutcheson.

“If a friend of mine hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have known they were looking for me,” he said.

CTV News Toronto has reached out to the Toronto Blue Jays for comment, but has not yet heard back.

Hutcheson said she was grateful for everyone who came out to show kindness to her husband and her, especially the group of young men.

“Paul, Alex and Chris sat next to me at the game and they checked on me, they made me laugh and they were really good to me,” he said. “I hope it reaches them, so they know how much it really helped me and my husband.”

“We're trying to be very positive during this time and hope for the best.”