Asia Davis needed to find a hero, so she did what many people do in this day and age and turned to the Internet.
Her mission is to reunite with the man who put his body on the line to protect her son at a Cleveland Monsters hockey game last Thursday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
As the seconds ticked toward the end of the third period of the American Hockey League game, the intensity on the ice increased, Davis recalled. Sitting next to her was her friend Makayla Smith, who began recording some of the scuffles between the players.
Smith, who was in the right place at the right time, recorded the illegal puck being hit off the ice, soaring into the stands and heading straight for Davis and his 4-year-old son, Nasir.
“I don't think I looked up until it was like the puck was already going through the glass and past the crowd. And the next thing I knew, it was just screaming, so I looked over and he saw my son. It was like he had his hands up in front of him,'' Davis recalled of the man who defended Nasir.
The man was 28-year-old Andrew Podolak. Podlak, who was completely new to the trio, wasn't afraid to go in dangerous directions to stop his puck.
“I don't even want to think about what was going on,” Davis said. “Best case scenario, [Nasir] I would have gone to the hospital. ”
Davis said the “really, really close call” was one of “divine intervention.”
The group took a few photos to remember the moment, but after the match they parted ways without exchanging contact information. With adrenaline pumping and his head pounding, Davis said he was ready to leave the arena as soon as possible.
However, she felt that it might have been a disservice to Podolak and began calling Alina in search of the man to whom she felt she owed a favor for his selfless gesture.
So she turned to TikTok.
In a video that has now been viewed more than 1.7 million times since it was posted Saturday night, Davis shared the clip and called for people to go after Podolak.
“He was like, 'I was supposed to be here,'” Davis said in the post, recalling their interaction. “And he was. You can't say that God isn't real,” she continued.
A few hours later, in the morning, after the video and plea appeared on his phone, Podolak sent her a message.
Podolak said his first instinct was to “just dive” in front of the speeding puck. He remembered holding out his hand just in time to make the block.
“It was a crazy experience,” he said. Even crazier, Podolak said he happened to be sitting in row 7, number 7, in section 107 for this game.
Davis said seven is her lucky number. “You were supposed to be there,” she told Podolak in an interview with NBC News.
We are now connected on a first name basis and feel that this moment marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The Cleveland Monsters are also paying attention. Share a photo of the trio The official X page has the caption “We found them!” They also received tickets to Saturday's game, where Nasir played the honor. drop the puck Before the match starts.
In her first interview with NBC News, Davis wanted to tell her new friend how grateful she was.
“You are truly a special person, and I just hope you never go through a day of your life without knowing that,” Davis emotionally told Podolak.
“Everything happens for a reason, right?” Podolak answered.
