Last October, ten-year-old Jonari Smith arrived at a football game to find his new mentor being resuscitated by firefighters.

It was meant to be his second meeting with Somerset Eagles' goalkeeper Gabriel Wilkinson, as part of the Big Brothers & Big Sisters programme. After the game, he and Mr. Wilkinson, were going to hang out.

Instead, Mr. Wilkinson was critically injured with a fractured skull after a freak collision during the game and was rushed overseas for treatment at the Lahey Clinic, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was released in November and sent to a rehabilitation clinic in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jonari wrote an essay for The Royal Gazette, talking about how heartbroken he was by the experience. His mother also wrote of her admiration for Mr. Wilkinson.

Their words illustrate how quickly the bond can form between mentor and mentee.

Jonari Smith: It was one of the hardest days I have ever had to deal with. My emotions really came up and it was so needed. I had been invited by my Big Brother Gabes to watch him play goalkeeper at his football game at White Hill Field.

As I was walking into the gate, a firetruck came speeding up the road and onto the field, directed by a guy at the gate pointing to the goal.

We quickly walked onto the field where some other players were kicking the ball around on the field and the firemen working on the person in the goal. After a while, I asked a man who the guy was laying on the ground. He responded, 'Gabriel'.

All I could do was look at my mom and say, 'NO NO NO!' Tears formed in my eyes and I felt that I needed to go and see him. I asked my mom if I could go over but she told me 'no'.

I could not hold my tears any longer and began to cry. My mom held me close to her and told me it was okay to cry and hugged me, comforting me and telling me. 'It's okay Nari, it's okay'. I asked her what happened; I could see that she did not want to answer me.

She told me that Gabes jumped to stop the ball from going into the goal and the player on the other team hit him in the head. She also told me that he was struck so hard that he was knocked unconscious.

Gabes was not moving; I was afraid he was dead. He soon began to move a little and mom said, "Look J-man, he is moving. That is good."

The ambulance soon arrived and Gabe was taken to the hospital. My friend's dad came over to me and said that Gabes will be okay and he will keep me posted as to what is going on.

He and my mom gave each other their phone numbers. I could not help but cry as Gabe and I had such a great first day together on Saturday and he was such a great person to me.

My friend Anthony's mom took my mom and me to the bus stop and I did not want to go home as yet.

She saw that I was not happy and prayed with me. The prayer meant a lot to me and we asked God to keep Gabe safe and watch over him. All I could keep asking God was to let Gabes be alright. My night was rough and I did not want to talk all I wanted was to be next to my mom and be with her. She prayed along with me and did not just pray for me, but Gabes, his friends, family etc. This is an event I will never forget.

Tamara Smith, Jonari's mother: Being a mom with a son living with her, I have found that as he gets older, there are some things that he needs and seeks from a male. Not having his father in Jonari's life as I would wish led me to making contact with the Big Brothers & Big Sisters organisation.

When I first met Gabriel, immediately I felt he was a good choice for Jonari. Leaving the office I had a smile upon my face as I recognised that as a sports-minded person, football being (his favourite) one, Jonari would be in seventh heaven. But he not only showed me in our meeting that he was focused on sports, but also that education and life was of great importance as well.

A week later, Jonari and Gabriel met. An instant connection took place. The guys made plans for the Saturday which included Gabriel taking him to his football game and then hanging out together afterwards.

All week, Jonari was geared up for this day, and talked nonstop about what was going to happen and what he hoped would come out of Gabriel's being his Big Brother.

He took total claim over Gabriel even with not having spent much time with him as yet.

After their first get together Jonari came home full of happiness and would not stop talking about Gabriel. Gabriel was the topic of the day, night and evening. Jonari and Gabe made plans for the next day, Sunday, October 12, 2008 for Jonari to come and watch Gabe play soccer. Never would one imagine that we would witness the accident which has resulted in him being in Boston at this moment.

Jonari took this all really hard, as he wanted to know, "Why do things like this always happen to good people?"

What do you say as a parent to answer such a question? Jonari walks and talks about Gabriel each and every day. We constantly get updates from his family who we feel has taken us on and treated us like part of their family, not even meeting us as yet, because we were not afforded that opportunity.

I had tears come to my eyes when Gabe's brother Garon said to me, 'I know Gabe is Jonari's Big Brother, but I will be there for him whenever he needs me'.

These few words touched me and I will say this, I feel my son not only received a Big Brother but also adopted an awesome family.

Gabriel and his family are always in our thoughts and prayers, and we wish him a speedy recovery. My hope and dream at this time is that I am able to take Jonari to see his Big Brother Gabe to support him through the recovery process and I feel this will help Jonari as well. He dealt with this accident extremely hard but is now in a good place. I am just supporting him however I can.

A man with morals and a good heart. A man that knows what he wants and committed to being a positive role model for the people that come before him, is how I would describe Gabriel Wilkinson. Much prayer for him and his family. From mother, Tamara Smith.