SIX months after the loss of his five-year-old son Luca to leukemia, Socceroos goalkeeper Brad Jones has a reason to smile again.
Jones and his partner, Dani Lawrence, welcomed newborn Nico Luca Jones into the world on Thursday, just in time for Easter.
Perth-born-and-raised Jones, who is now a goalkeeper for Liverpool in England's Premier League, shared the news of the baby's arrival with his 70,000 Twitter fans.
On Thursday he posted: "So happy! Nico Luca Jones born today. Baby and @Dani_Lawrence are both fine. Lucky thing got mum's looks and dad's height."
Meanwhile, Ms Lawrence told her Twitter followers that Nico was "beyond beautiful" and a "big boy".
The former Bayswater City goalkeeper made international headlines in 2010 when he sacrificed his World Cup dream and flew home from South Africa on the eve of Australia's first match to be with his then four-year-old son after finding out about Luca's leukemia.
The family launched a worldwide search for a bone-marrow donor in the hope that transplant surgery could save Luca's life.
Tragically, Luca lost his brave 18-month battle with the disease in November last year.
During her pregnancy, Ms Lawrence, who is a physiotherapist and model, posted several images on Twitter.
In a photo posted five weeks ago, she showed off a colourful mural painted on her baby bump that had a touching memorial to Luca.
Jones developed his goalkeeping skills within Perth's soccer community before being signed by Middlesbrough in 1999. He joined Liverpool in 2010.
