Matt Smith remembers the grim scene vividly -- a baby being cradled by his five-year-old sibling, the oblivious mother lying drunk in the gutter.
That was nine years ago in Siem Riep, Cambodia, the day the Thai Premier League star and his future wife Aicha, then backpacking around Southeast Asia together, vowed one day they would do something for one of the world's less fortunate children.
As the years passed and Smith's football career and home life blossomed in Australia, that dream was put on the back-burner -- until he and his young family moved to Thailand last year when the former Australia international signed a contract with Bangkok Glass.
Six months into their move, with Aicha volunteering to help kids in the Klong Toey slums, Smith, 34, saw a TV programme on orphans in Thailand. They were moved to finally take action.
In action for Bangkok Glass. photos: Matt Smith
A year later, they are now the proud parents of Ruby, a two-year-old girl abandoned by her birth parents after a few days, who previously lived in the Khaen Thong Children's Home in Khon Kaen.
The Smiths, who already have three of their own children, finally took Ruby home in May, and have watched her develop physically and emotionally at a rapid rate since.
"That day when we were backpacking in Cambodia stuck in our memories," he says. "We went to the local 7-Eleven to buy milk and fruit for the children. After returning to our hostel, I didn't realise that Aicha, who was just a friend at that point, had gone back to leave them money after going to the ATM machine.
"It was always in our long-term plan to do something for a child, but we just got on with our lives, until we came to Thailand and it was the right time after we had three children of our own.
"Everyone says that Ruby is so lucky, but we feel like the lucky ones. She completes our family. It's been amazing to watch her develop since she's been with us. When we first met her she wouldn't smile. The staff did their best in the orphanage, but it lacks resources. She's also put on 3kg in weight with us, eating everything she can get her hands on, to the extent that we have to watch that very carefully."
After making the decision to adopt, the Smiths went through an extensive bureaucratic process, which took months, completing embassy documents, police checks, references and medical, psychological and financial assessments.
Matt and Aicha Smith with Ruby at the orphanage. photos: Matt Smith
Eventually accepted by the Thai government's Child Adoption Center, they were matched with Ruby in April, with the couple able to visit her the day after hearing the news as Smith coincidentally had a training camp with Bangkok Glass in Khon Kaen.
"We were full of nerves seeing her the first time, but also so excited," the Bangkok Glass captain says. "We did not know what to expect. It was very emotional for me and my wife. All we wanted to do was take her home there and then, but we were not able to do that until everything had finally been approved."
Over the following weeks, Smith managed to visit Ruby a further eight or nine times, including a four-day stint over Songkran, before they finally got the final go ahead to take her home in May.
"It was pure happiness the day we were able to take her home for real," he says. "You could see in her eyes and her behaviour that she was quite nervous about getting on the plane -- she had never left the orphanage before.
"We just wanted to cuddle and comfort her. Since she's been with us over the last four months, the transformation has been amazing. She's now speaking jargon English, and her brother and sisters have embraced her into the family.
"Before she didn't know how to hug -- she would just leave her arms hanging down when we carried her. But now she binds her arms like other children. She's loving her play time and from being scared of the water, she loves swimming now. She's had an amazing impact on all our lives."
Smith, who has signed a two-year contract with Bangkok Glass, and his family are happily settled in Thailand, a country he has previous links with.
Born in England, Smith represented Great Britain in the World Student Games in Bangkok in 2007, and backpacked around Southeast Asia, prior to emigrating to Australia with his parents.
A former trainee at Portsmouth FC in England before being released, Smith went on to have a successful football career in Australia with Brisbane Roar, winning the top-tier A-League on three occasions.
His previous experiences in Thailand lured him back to the country when the Bangkok Glass opening arose, and he admits that one day he and his wife have a dream to help more abandoned children, possibly in the Land of Smiles.
"We have talked about one day opening an orphanage," he says. "It's just a dream for now, but my wife in particular is very passionate about this issue.
"There is such need out there and just on the back of what we've done, we know of more couples who've applied to adopt a child. People think it's impossible to do; as we've shown, it really is isn't and we would urge anyone who is interested to find out more and if they think they're suitable, go for it."
