‘They said they won it for me’; High school athletes helping young girl recover making us proud

PITTSBURGH — Lifelong best friends revel in the moment of their football careers: a state championship for Thomas Jefferson High School.

“They won the game and they said they won it for me," Aubrey Mahoney said.

Mahoney, 9, had a big challenge ahead of her that very same week. She had to get a rare brain tumor removed from her pituitary gland because she hadn’t grown in three years. As she counted the hours until the surgery, the TJ High football team sent her well wishes from Hershey as they got ready for the championship game.

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“We were thinking about her the whole time,” said Daniel Deabner, a football player for TJ.

Both the team and Mahoney came out on top. Much to her doctors’ surprise, Mahoney was home in four days following the surgery. Five players from that championship winning team made a visit, bearing their trophy, a Hershey football, and one of their personal medals.

“She needed it more than me. It made her happy. That’s what really matters,” said Logan Danielson.

“It meant so much to her. It was the first time she smiled a big smile after surgery,” said Susan Mahoney, Aubrey’s mother.

The Thomas Jefferson High School Football team and Aubrey Mahoney make us Proud to be from Pittsburgh.

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