Terminally ill footballer organises surprise party for daughter's birthday from his hospice bed

Former soccer star Fernando Ricksen threw his seven-year-old daughter a special birthday surprise.

The Dutch-born footballer is in the final stages of Motor Neurone Disease (aka ALS) and organised the little party in his hospice room.

In a video posted to Instagram by Fernando's wife Veronika Ricksen, young Isabella is seen running inside the room to hug her dad.

The terminally ill dad appears to give a smile to the camera as he sees his daughter examine the photos on the walls and balloons.

There's also a unicorn cake waiting for the excited birthday girl.

"Best daddy ever, best surprise for our little girl thank you so much for making her happy," Veronika captioned the video, adding plenty of love heart emojis.

The short clip is set to Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber's duet 'I Don't Care' and has been viewed over 6,000 times with hundreds of messages of support.

Fernando and Veronika married in secret in 2014 in the Belgian town of Maasiek, the year after retired from the sport due to his illness.

Veronika, who is also Fernando's carer, has been posting updates on social media.

The former Rangers player, now 42, is unable to speak and uses a machine to do the talking for him.

He recently shared a video on social media asking his fellow athletes and scientists to keep looking for a cure for MND.