“This wish was pure magic”

From Teresa Varley this weekend at Steelers.com:

Magic. That truly is the only way to describe what happened after Steelers practice on Friday. Pure magic.

Moments after the team headed into the locker room, Ben Roethlisberger made his way over to Mary Evansic, a 10-year old from Tehachapi, California, who was at practice as a guest of the team through Make-A-Wish.

Evansic’s wish was to catch a pass from Roethlisberger, something that is normally reserved for Antonio Brown, Marcus Wheaton, Martavis Bryant, Heath Miller and company.

Roethlisberger grabbed one of the footballs from practice, and along with Brown, played catch with Evansic. It was a moment that would melt anyone’s heart.

“She has been a fan of Ben’s for as long as she has been able to talk,” said her father, Leonard Evansic. “This summer she had a surgery that had her in the hospital for six weeks. What really kept her going was telling everybody she was going to meet Ben and the Steelers. That was a really big thing for her. It pulled her through it.”

Evansic, who has cerebral palsy, lit up from the moment she met Roethlisberger and all of his Steelers’ teammates and the smile will likely last for a long time, including Sunday when she is the guest of the team at Heinz Field for the game against the Broncos.

“This was really special,” said her father. “It’s really hard to describe. It’s been a phenomenal experience so far. We can’t wait to have her at the game on Sunday. She was born to cheer for the Steelers.”

Thank you once again to Ms. Varley for sharing her video (below) with us and the many beautiful photos from Mary’s day here.