When 11-year-old Audrey Soape's father died suddenly last year — and then her grandfather soon after — Audrey's mom said her girl ...
When 11-year-old Audrey Soape's father died suddenly last year — and then her grandfather soon after — Audrey's mom said her girl understandably was having a rough time.
“After the sudden and heartbreaking loss of her father in March of 2021, followed five weeks later by the passing of her grandfather, my beautiful Audrey struggled to cope,” Holly Soape shared on Instagram post. “Knowing this Daddy/Daughter dance at @thefellowshipch was coming up, I knew I wanted to do something incredible to make it special for her.”
That something incredible was getting in touch with Anthony Harris, safety for the Philadelphia Eagles, to see if he could escort Audrey — who's a big fan of the player — to the daddy-daughter dance.
Anthony HarrisPhoto by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Holly told KYW-TV she reached out to Harris about six weeks prior to the dance — which was happening at Fellowship Church in Round Rock, Texas, about a half hour north of Austin. And even though Harris loved the idea, he wasn't sure if he could attend since the Eagles were poised to make a playoff run.
The fairy tale commences
Well, the Birds were one-and-done in their lone playoff appearance against last year's Super Bowl champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which afforded Harris the time he needed to give Audrey a magical night.
“I was super nervous, but I was also super excited,” Audrey told KYW of her time with the NFL player. “And I was like preparing myself all week because it was going to be fun, but I was super nervous. I didn’t know what to say.”
But Audrey added to the station that even though she was nervous, Harris made it all easier.
“He was very nice,” she told KYW. “When I was super nervous, he made it feel like less nervous to be around him, and it was really fun."
What's more, Harris footed the bill for Audrey's dress, shoes, and makeup, the station said.
“He kept her laughing, he kept her dancing on the dance floor, they ran around the church doing a scavenger hunt, just playing games, really made the whole night just really incredible for her because you could tell she was very nervous to start with," Holly added to KYW, noting that "all of it was just a fairy tale and amazing."
'You’ve got to cherish these moments'
Harris noted that his presence was a chance to support Audrey, which he was only too happy to do since she and her mom are longtime fans who often reached out to him on social media and asked how they could pray for him.
“You’ve got to cherish these moments," Harris told WCAU-TV. "You never know how long we have here on this earth. The people that you care about and the people you love, show support for them.”
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