TAMPA, Fla. -- For a brief moment Thursday, life for Ryan and Jennifer Pollock felt somewhat bearable, and they felt like someone finally understood.

On May 22, Ryan, his father Benjamin Tipton, and the couple's two children, Wade and Noah, were involved in a boating accident in Fort Myers, Florida. The boat crashed into the base of the Midpoint Bridge.

The family was heading to the Florida Keys for vacation.

Both boys were thrown into the water. Noah, 12, died at the scene. Wade, 11, injured his left leg badly. He spent 16 days in the Tampa General Hospital trauma unit and has undergone six surgeries.

Wade Pollock presents Kwon Alexander with a rock that reads, "The Lord is my shield and the horn of my salvation." Jenna Laine/ESPN.com

On Thursday, Wade got to meet someone who knew this kind of pain -- Bucs middle linebacker Kwon Alexander.

"He lost his brother, too," Jennifer said. "That's why he wanted to meet him."

In 2015, Alexander's brother Broderick Taylor, then 17, was shot and killed in their hometown of Anniston, Alabama.

Alexander spent several minutes with Wade, who was wearing a No. 58 jersey.

"It's touching, people who can relate, reach out, share their support," Jennifer said. "Nobody really knows what to say when a kid dies. And we don't know what to say or how to react or what's normal."

Wade also got to meet quarterback Jameis Winston, who had some jokes at the expense of Alexander's new fire engine-red hair.

"Look at the color of a hot Cheeto," Winston said. "Then at the top of his head. They're the same color, man, the same color!"

Wade said laughing, "It's the same!"

Wade also gave Alexander a birthday present. It’s a rock that says, “The Lord is my shield and the horn of my salvation.”

Wade is currently in a cast and confined to a wheelchair. The hope is that he'll get to start physical therapy soon and possibly begin the sixth grade with the rest of his classmates.

"We're hoping to do the walker by then," Jennifer said. "He just needs his balance, really. He's allowed to bear weight but he's been down for so long, he gets real dizzy when he stands up."

Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston poses with Wade Pollock, 11, and his parents, Ryan and Jennifer Pollock. Jenna Laine/ESPN.com

Wade faces a long road ahead physically, and the entire family is still trying to pick up the pieces emotionally.

Moments such as the ones they shared together with Winston and Alexander, and the visit they got from University of South Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers -- they mean the world.

"What we've learned from it all is never to take any day for granted," Jennifer said, choking back tears. "I keep saying to other moms, 'Could you imagine someone telling you that you have four weeks left with your kid? You'd change a lot of things.' So live that way today and every day."