It’s time to settle down and prepare yourself for some emotion, because you are about to watch a man be reunited with a long lost mentor he met as a boy. The fact that it’s set to the music from The Shawshank Redemption is almost unfair.
That being said, the most heart-throbbing moments are brilliantly set to no music at all. You don’t need a strings section tugging at your heartstrings when you have real tears, real disbelief, real love in front of you.
That was Ian Wright, former Arsenal striker, meeting an old school teacher of his, Syd Pigden. Pigden taught Wright at Turnham Primary School in Southeast London, and as you can see, he was one of the first male figures to nurture Wright and Wright’s talent.
Today Wright is an Arsenal legend, which is stunning considering how tormented he was at some points in his life. His father left when he was only 18 months old, and he had a terrible relationship with his step-father. He grew up very extroverted but not in the charming way you might assume, he “rubbed people up the wrong way.”
It’s hard to imagine Wright rubbing anyone the wrong way after seeing that video.
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PS: Syd Pigden? I couldn’t come up with a more charming English name if I tried.