Display intro image inside mod_breadcrumbs

I try to add code in order to display article intro image inside the mod_breadcrumbs.php but I have no luck so far. Any help? I have tried some variations of this code:

 <?php
$article_images  = json_decode($item->images);
$article_image   = '';
$article_image_alt   = '';
if(isset($article_images->image_intro) && !empty($article_images->image_intro)) {
    $article_image  = $article_images->image_intro;
    $article_image_alt  = $article_images->image_intro_alt;
}?>                     
    
<a href="/<?php echo $item->link; ?>">
    <img class="" src="/<?php echo $article_image; ?>" alt="<?php echo $article_image_alt; ?>" >
</a>