He was rushed to Temple Street hospital where he was placed in the intensive care unit for three days and luckily avoided surgery. On Tuesday, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) posted a video of Mason and his youngest brother Scott, aged 6, arriving at the team’s training ground in Abbottstown where they were met by Brentford and Ireland centre back Nathan Collins. The defender presented the child with a signed jersey from the team and said: “Now listen, I heard what happened to you, but you're a good, strong boy. “But the lads wanted to give you this. In June, we want you the guest of honour… are you happy with that?” A delighted Mason, who said he attended all the home games, received applause from onlookers as he left the grounds smiling, along with his brother. The young boy, who started in a new school this week, spoke to the Irish Examiner at home after he was discharged from hospital and said the only thing he wanted to know was why he had been stabbed. “I don’t get it” he said. He described what happened, saying: “I was in goals, another boy told me to come into the bushes, he wanted to show me something in his bag. I said ‘no’. Then he said ‘turn around and get down on my knees’ and I did. “I felt something, the pain was very bad. I touched my back and saw the blood and I turned around; I saw the knife he was holding. He was about to stab me again, I ran to the teacher and said, ‘I have been stabbed’.” The talented footballer, who is on the right wing with the U11 team with Tolka Rovers FC, has been told by doctors to take six weeks rest before he returns to the pitch. “I am a bit sore” he said. “I feel it sometimes, but I am doing ok.” Mason’s brother Carter, aged 10, plays for Finglas United, while his younger brother Scott, aged six, is a right back. Their father Stephen is a coach with Whitehall Rangers FC. “He’s a brilliant footballer,” dad Stephen told the Irish Examiner, while their mother Natalie said her sons “loved sport”. and were “very good boys". Ireland will host Senegal on June 6 at 7.45pm at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.