A fan at a Cleveland Monsters game reached out to stop the puck from coming screaming through the ice at the head of a 4-year-old boy named Nasir.
That night, Nasir's mother, Asia Davis, sat in bed thinking about what would have happened without the fans. She found the man on social media and decided to at least thank him one more time, or perhaps offer him a meal and tickets to another game.
A video she posted on TikTok asking anonymous fans to contact her has been viewed more than 4 million times, and sure enough, it ended up in Andrew Podolak's feed.
It was in the greenhouse that Thursday night that Davis, Nasir and Podolak watched a Monsters game. If they win, the team, which is the official AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets, will advance to the playoffs.
With a minute left, the 33-year-old Davis pulled out his smartphone and recorded the hectic final moments seconds before a player deflected a pass that barreled into the crowd. Davis didn't have time to react, but Nasir couldn't even see the puck. Fortunately, Podolak did so and jumped from a seated position with his arms outstretched, shielding the boy from the impact on the head.
Davis told the Washington Post that the call was so close that ice crystals from the puck covered Nasir's hair.
“I owe that guy lunch or dinner. Thank you again,” Davis said in the video, adding, “…because I can't imagine hitting my baby with that hockey puck. ” he said.
Numb with adrenaline, she then joked to Podolak that he should be a goaltender and posed for a photo with Nasir holding a puck that the kids in the back seat handed him. I asked for it.
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However, upon leaving the arena, the reality of what had happened set in and she began to feel unwell. Davis called her team and asked if they could identify the man by her seat number. They asked for more time to find out, but she made a TikTok video and it worked.
Later, Podolak, Nasir and Davis reunited in front of news cameras at a playoff game hosted by the Cleveland Monsters. After telling the story to the media, the three ceremonially dropped the game puck before taking a break from watching the game at their rink-side seats.
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Davis admitted he was nervous and sat as a trio, just as he had that fateful Thursday night, but with Nasir in between in case Podolak's heroics were needed again.
Nasir loved the whole experience and sleeps with Puck, whom Podolak helped rescue, every night.
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