KANSAS CITY, MO — Jason Madhu, a Kansas City Chiefs fan living in Wichita, Kansas, lost his mother roughly two weeks ago.
“She had a lung illness that was not curable so we knew the time was short," Madhu said.
Madhu — a father, husband and son — was watching the Chiefs versus Buffalo Bills game Sunday, when he looked over at his mother's picture next to the television.
He then felt compelled to honor her in more than one way.
“People told me, 'I just met your mom one time, but it was memorable,'" Madhu said. "She had such an energy, kindness, she wanted to help people and those are all of the things that were going through my head when all of this was happening."
Madhu decided to send out a tweet, asking for the help of Chiefs fans to send a single mom to the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Hey #ChiefsKingdom can you help me find a single mother who would like to go to the Chiefs Bengals game this weekend? I lost my mother very recently and want to do something nice in her memory. (I'll be watching from home). Pease RT. 🙏🏾
— Jason (@jmadwho) January 25, 2022
“When I sent that tweet out, that was almost to the day, almost to the hour, of when she passed away and I didn’t realize that when I posted that," Madhu said. "That wasn’t the intention, but it just worked out that way."
After many retweets, direct messages and comments, Madhu said that one message from Feliciana Melendez stood out the most.
“She sent a message like condolences, and something like she wished she lived closer by,” Madhu said. “And I saw pictures with her son and we just chatted a little bit, and I said, 'Can you call me?' And I said, 'What’s your story? Tell me about you, tell me about your son and it kind of blossomed from there."
Melendez, a single mother, never thought her kind words would make her son's dreams come true.
“I told him, I was like, 'It feels like I won the lottery,'” Melendez said.
Melendez said she works hard to provide for her 12-year-old son Gabriel, who lives with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“I’m lucky because he taught me so many different things," Melendez said. "My life is very scheduled, very, very, scheduled. He can't eat preserved foods, so that makes it a little bit more challenging. He definitely has to have everything scheduled and he’s home schooled."
However, she never thought she’d be able make this dream of Gabriel's come true.
“He wanted to be in the NFL and it’s something, it’s like a dream," Melendez said. "And now he gets to see them in person and it’s the Chiefs you know, so it’s incredible."
Melendez is still shocked by Madhu's generosity and said she can't wait to see the excitement on her son's face come Sunday.
“Even when you least expect it, you get a hidden blessing, you get a hidden moment of someone saying I see you," Melendez said. "As a mom, I want to be able to give you something that you have never been able to do."
The Chiefs take on the Cincinnati Bengals at 2:05 on Sunday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
