Tim Tebow news: Christian football icon says Filipino boy believed to be 'cursed' inspired him to build hospital

Tim Tebow playfully lifts up a smiling Filipino boy on his back during one of his visits to the Philippines.(YouTube/Tim Tebow Foundation)

Former NFL star Tim Tebow has met a lot of famous and influential people in his lifetime, but one person Tebow could not forget is a young boy named Sherwin from the Philippines.

Tebow shared with the Church Boys Podcast that Sherwin was born with his feet backwards, a birth defect that Filipino villagers thought was a sign that the child was cursed.

Thankfully, Tebow knew better, because every child is precious in God's eyes. Even though no one else wanted to go near Sherwin, Tebow talked to him and even carried him around.

"I got to be able to carry him and just share with the village that he's not cursed, that he's loved by God," said Tebow.

After that incident, Tebow was inspired to build the CURE hospital in the Philippines so that children with paediatric and orthopaedic needs will get the chance to undergo life-changing surgeries.

Tebow says many of the achievements made by the Tim Tebow Foundation were "because of the impact [Sherwin] had on my life and my heart when I was 15, [and] that's pretty special."

Even though Tebow is no longer playing football, he remains one of the most popular NFL players to this day. The success attained by Tebow is enough for anyone to get a big head, but Tebow maintains an impressive level of humility.

"I've been blessed with certain gifts and I've been able to use them, but they can be gone instantly," Tebow says. "That's why you just can't brag about stuff. The only thing that we've called to brag about is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, because He's the one that did everything for us and He overcame death and hell and everything else. He's the reason that we get to stand in victory, because we know Him and we love Him."