Mom Is Watching Cheerleader Daughter Perform From Stands As She Suddenly Sees A Young Man Skipping The Fence To Run Towards Her

Sep 29, 2020 by apost team

When a parent leaves home to defend the country, children are told about the sacrifices that are made. They know that it's a job that needs to be done and that the job often takes the parent away from home for extended periods of time.

But for children with a parent in the military, it's sometimes difficult to participate in everyday activities after school or try to be one of the kids who act like everything is normal when their parent isn't there. These children want the parent who is away to be at special events and to be at home to enjoy holidays as well as nightly meals with the family.

When there is a special event like a school dance or a competition, the absence of the parent is felt even more. This is what happened to Addie Rodriguez, a then-9-year-old girl who was a student at St. John Bosco Elementary School in San Antonio, Texas in Oct. 2016. The young girl was part of the cheer squad and one fateful day, there was a routine that involved the students' dads. Since her father, Senior Airman Abel Rodriguez had just gone to California ahead of being deployed, he wouldn't be there to participate in the father-daughter routine.

As her mom stood on the sidelines, she witnessed her daughter break down in tears. The moment was heartbreaking until all of a sudden a stranger jumped down from the grandstand, went up to Addie, and within minutes had lifted her up to ensure she didn't miss out on performing the routine with her teammates. The little girl's tears soon became a smile and the uplifting story has since gone viral.  

That day, Addie got the surprise of her life when she was cheering at one of her school's games. The then-9-year-old wanted her father Abel to watch her cheer more than anything in the world because he had missed so many special moments in her life. That day he was also meant to be a part of the team's routine. But while the other girls began to prepare for the routine with their dads, which involved the fathers lifting their daughters onto their shoulders, Addie stood off on the sidelines. What's more, she began to cry as all the emotions of him not being there hit her. The little girl's father had just left the previous day to go to California so that he could get ready for another deployment.

Addie's mother, Alexis Perry-Rodriguez, watched on from the grandstand as her heart broke seeing her daughter struggling a bit and then crying all alone. The mother's heart broke because she knew that her daughter wanted her father there so much. 

But then out of nowhere a kind young man jumped over the fence to save the day. He ran over to Addie and took her father's place in the routine and managed to put a smile back on her face. The young man was then-17-year-old Matthew Garcia, who was a senior at Central Catholic. He was there that day to support his younger brother, who attended St. Luke Catholic School, which was the school competing against Addie's school, St. John Bosco that day. Addie's mom told Today:

"(Addie) was kind of shocked and scared at first, but then when he knelt down to tell her, 'I'm going to pick you up, too,' she was really happy and thankful ... She said, 'He saved my life, mom!' He made her feel so good about herself."  

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Addie's mom added to Today:

"I just broke into tears when I realized what he was doing ... I couldn't even talk."

Garcia told the news outlet that he was sympathetic to Addie's situation since his parents had divorced earlier in his life. He said:

"I understood what it was like to not have a dad there, so when I saw her crying like that, it just struck a chord with me ... It was instinct, I guess. I just couldn't see her like that."

After the kind gesture, Garcia — who is the captain of the cross country team and director of his school's Big Brother program — left quickly, although Alexis did manage to get one photo of him and Addie together. However, the Rodriguez family didn't even know his name and wanted to extend their thanks once more. This prompted Alexis to post a photo on her Facebook to ask if anybody knew who the upstanding young man was. That's when the story spread quickly in the San Antonio area. 

Meanwhile, Garcia, who was a selfless hero that day, felt he got more from the interaction than Addie. He told the news outlet:

"Seeing her smile after the way she was crying, that probably made my day even more than hers, to be honest with you ... When Addie thanked me after the game, it was just really moving to me."

In a follow-up video from 2018, the Rodriguez family, including Abel were still so incredibly thankful for Garcia's actions. And as for the young man? At the time he had graduated high school and was studying to become a cardiologist, no doubt on a path to help even more people.  

What do you think of Matthew Garcia's actions that day? Have you ever experienced an act of kindness from a stranger? Let us know and if this inspired you, be sure to pass it on to others!