Philadelphia Eagles fans' chance meeting leads to heartwarming friendship

Driving the news: Santiago reconnected at last week's Eagles game with the family of Kellirae Cox, a woman he met at the Super Bowl in February.

• Their chance meeting that day became more meaningful after Santiago learned of Cox's death in August.
• Cox's family had a special gift for Santiago — a drink coaster that Cox bought for him before she died despite not ever knowing his name.

Catch up fast: Cox already had an unknown syndrome and was deaf when she was diagnosed with late-stage melanoma, her family tells Axios.

• The Super Bowl was on her bucket list. By some miracle, her aunt, Suzanne McDonald, scored tickets through the Dream Foundation and they flew in from California.
• Cox and Santiago met at the game. He was sitting a row in front of her, and they bonded immediately. They snapped photos together and Cox taught Santiago how to sign "Fly, Eagles, Fly."

What happened: In the heartbreak of the Birds' loss, Cox never got Santiago's name or exchanged phone numbers.

• She died in August, just three days after her 22nd birthday.
• Her family honored her by flying to Philly to attend last week's Eagles-San Francisco game.

Looking to find Santiago, McDonald posted about their Super Bowl encounter on an Eagles fan site.

• Sleuthy fans tracked down Santiago in seven minutes, he tells Axios.

The intrigue: McDonald's post was shared more than 15,000 times on Facebook and generated more than a million views on X.

• Another fan gifted Santiago with field passes so he could meet an Eagles cheerleader, KelseyRae Semon, who was close with Cox and sent her family a signed football after her death.

What they're saying: "Until this weekend, I felt like I lost the best part of me," says McDonald. "I really didn't know how I was gonna go on. This was just what the doctor ordered."

Of note: The new friends went out to dinner after the game, and Cox's family gave Santiago the drink coaster that had an inside joke between the two.

The bottom line: "There's been a lot more faith restored with a lot of these blessings and how they come about," Santiago says, planning to keep the coaster for years to come.