A 10-year-old Philadelphia boy who protected his sister when an air ambulance crashed in the city might not be able to go to the Super Bowl victory parade, but he did get a personal visit from Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown in the hospital.
Andre “Trey” Howard III required emergency brain surgery after a piece of metal debris embedded in his head as he shielded his younger sister during the Jan. 31 crash. His father, Andre Howard, told NBC News the family was driving to get their weekly Friday afternoon treat when the Jet Rescue Air Ambulance crashed in northeast Philadelphia.
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Trey’s family told NBC Philadelphia that when he woke up after surgery he had two questions: Did he save his sister? Did he miss the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl game?
Brown saw the headlines about Trey’s dedication to his hometown team and promised to visit him once the game was over.
“You are a Hero young man!” Brown wrote in a post on X. “I’m going to come see you when I get back. Hopefully with some hardware. Playing for you on Sunday my man.”
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown meets with 10-year-old fan Trey Howard who ended up in the hospital after protecting his little sister from debris at the scene of the recent plane crash in Philadelphia.
Brown “kept his word,” Howard said. He admitted to being a little surprised when he received a call from the hospital that the family was going to have a visitor in the morning.
“Just with my son walking, being able to have a conversation with A.J. Brown,” Howard said. “These are things that I look at as a dad … these are iconic moments.”
Brown brought Trey some gifts from the Eagles, as well as the Vince Lombardi Trophy the team won by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in the championship game on Sunday. Trey’s mother posted photos of Trey and Brown with the trophy to her Facebook page.
Howard described Brown as humble, sitting and talking to Trey for about 30 minutes during his visit. Trey asked him questions about what it was like to win the Super Bowl and about Brown’s teammate, Saquon Barkley.
So Brown called Barkley to chat with Trey too, Howard said.
“They just said ‘we were proud of you,’ ‘we’re praying for you,'” Howard said. “And pretty much, my son gave them the extra edge to go win that Super Bowl, extra motivation on top of the motivation they had being in the Super Bowl. And that lifted my son’s spirits.”
Just after Brown’s visit, Howard said Trey had to go to physical therapy.
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“You would have thought he was back to normal,” Howard said. “They gave him an extra boost of energy … ‘Wow, you’re already going fast now, and we’re pretty much jogging on the treadmill now?'”
Howard described Trey as a “centimeter” from death after the accident, being told he could become paraplegic from his injuries. But the father now calls his son’s rapid improvement in less than two weeks a “miracle.”
Trey still has a long road to recovery, though his father says his ability to walk and talk enough for Brown’s visit was a big improvement. The 10-year-old won’t be able to go to the parade, but Howard hopes to get some pictures for him.
Brown’s visit showed Howard the type of person the athlete is off the field, Howard said, adding that Brown is now a “brother to me for life.”
“I don’t look at him as just a professional football player, I look at him — he’s a dad,” Howard said. “He told me it hit home because he has a son. It hit home to see a child protecting his sister and he just wanted to show some love to him.”
