Seven-year-old Tatum Ellse, an Anzac resident and Felicitas School learner living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), lived her dream on September 5 at the rugby match between the Springboks and All Blacks at FNB Stadium.

After her uncle entered her into a DHL competition, she was randomly selected to walk onto the field wearing DHL clothing and hand the match ball to the referee.

Tatum is a great rugby fan, and her favourite player is Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who she believes is the best player in history.

She plays the game for fun, and between rugby and soccer she would love to play for the national team of either sport when she grows up.

According to her, she’ll be grown up by December, when she turns eight years old, and then she will get to reach all of her goals.

Her current goal is to make all her friends at school just as enthusiastic about the sport, so she can go watch more matches with them.

In school she likes doing classwork, playing with toys, and occasionally watching television, but one of her ultimate favourite activities is eating, particularly chocolate spread.

Tatum was diagnosed with ASD at 18 months, which makes her sensitive to overwhelming sensory input and social interactions.

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Her parents, Caitlin and Derrick, were worried that this would cause her discomfort and panic at the match.

“They were very good with her. We thought she’d be nervous with 86 000 people watching, but she did very well,” Caitlin explained.

Before handing over the match ball, she received a tour of various locations within the stadium, met quite a few people that she looks up to, and received an official announcement over the speakers before going onto the field.

She was also very enthusiastic watching the game, held the match ball for both national anthems before handing it over, and was seen high-fiving everyone whose hand was available.