FULSHEAR, Texas — This football season, Fulshear High School has a new, very special player on its team.
The 17-year-old girl may only be seen on the sidelines, but she’s in the heart of every player on the field.
“I’m having so much fun this year,” said Jade Simar. “We’re ready to go tomorrow.”
The Fulshear High School junior with autism has had the same dream for the past three years: to be a Charger.
Last week, her wish came true.
Jade, wearing the same lucky number of her friend Jax, was escorted onto the football field for the very first time on game day.
She describes her feelings of excitement in a way that we all understand.
“My heart went out of my body and was jumping around outside, and then it went back,” Jade said.
Her mother said the football team has become like big brothers to her daughter.
“They protect her,” Nicole Simar said. “Jax was by her side the entire time.”
Knowing that kids haven’t always been this kind to her daughter, Jade’s mom is forever grateful to Jax, his teammates and the coach of the Chargers, who made her daughter’s dream come true when they made her a member of the team.
“As a mother who has an autistic child, you always wonder you know how she’s treated in school,” Simar said. “ I’m getting teary-eyed. Jax has basically showed me that there are children in school that do care about her and that won’t bully her, and it’s phenomenal.”
Jax Medica said being a friend means more than a game.
“Football is a game you play, yeah, but this means more than any touchdown I’ve scored or anything,” Jax said.