KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs Kingdom rolled out the red carpet for one special fan Sunday night.
"I am going to tell my kids this story one day," said Blake Bowman Jr., of South Carolina.
Blake came to town for the game with his family in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Chiefs.
Doctors identified heart issues in Blake when he was a baby, later diagnosing him with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a severe underdevelopment of the left side of his heart.
At four months old, Blake and his parents spent months in the hospital. He had two open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant from an anonymous donor.
Blake's health has improved with his age.
On game day, Blake and his parents were escorted to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and were guided around the venue by Chiefs Hall of Fame linebacker Gary Spani.
"We can learn from those young men and women that they have to fight the fight every day," Spani said.
Spani said welcoming families into the stadium began in the 70s as part of Lamar Hunt's vision to share his love with others.
The Bowman family is partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the Missouri-Kansas and South Carolina regions. The organization has fulfilled the wishes of more than 10,700 children with critical illnesses since 1983. The overall goal is to improve the quality of life and produce better health outcomes.
"I'll probably never forget this," Blake said. "If I have kids one day, I'll probably tell them this story."
While Blake doesn't remember what he endured as an infant, he'll remember his trip to Kansas City: a sideline view of warm-ups and pregame introductions, spending time with the Hunt family, high fives from the entire Chiefs roster, and receiving a game ball from quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
While meeting Mahomes was a highlight, it wasn't just because he's QB1, but because Blake wrote a school paper on him.
A true full-circle moment.
"It's been full of really great experiences," Blake said of his time at Arrowhead Stadium.
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