Disfigured vet meets 5-year-old girl. Then he says 'Hi' to her

Simon Brown is a soldier who served for 13 years before his life changed in the blink of an eye. He was shot in the face by a sniper.

In 2006, Brown was on a rescue mission to retrieve six stranded soldiers after their vehicle had broken down. Brown managed to bring them to safety but was shot in the face by a sniper.

As reported by Faith Tap, he survived and needed more than 25 surgeries. Brown was left partially blind, and his cheekbones and nose were reconstructed.

His jaw was reshaped, and he was given a prosthetic eye, but Brown was still left disfigured which resulted in him losing his confidence, amongst other things.

Brown had to adapt to his new circumstances and relearn how to live as an independent adult. For the most part, he felt detached from the society and kept to himself.

His life changed when he met a five-year-old girl who had been volunteering to help soldiers and war veterans since the age of three. Her name is Temperance Pattinson, Tempy for short.

Tempy would partake in community projects to assist soldiers, but she had never met a soldier in real life. An organization called Help for Heroes decided to make her dreams come true.

They put Brown and Tempy in contact and arranged for the soldier and the young girl to meet. Brown as worried about the meeting for the simple reason that he thought Tempy would be frightened by his appearance.

Their interaction was recorded, and the video has since gone viral on social media. It has been viewed more than 1.4 million times, and it's not hard to see why.

The video starts with Tempy and Brown introducing themselves and sharing little bits about their life. Brown then explained how he had to rebuild his life after the sniper shot him.

Brown thanked Tempy for all she did for the soldiers, because thanks to money she raised, people like him could get the medical attention they need.