As best as Tom Coughlin can remember it, Eli Manning had already left the New York Giants facility after an offseason workout followed by a charity event a couple years ago. Manning’s phone rang, the news coming in that a special visitor had arrived at the team’s practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J. He immediately turned his car around and headed back to the practice center.

The special visitor wasn’t a free agent wide receiver. It wasn’t even an offensive lineman. And it wasn’t some high-roller with season tickets in a suite or a sponsor looking for a scheduled photo op.

Instead, it was a young boy, a Giants fan, who had shown up hoping to meet Manning but had just missed the quarterback. Why Manning cared about this one fan sums up everything that needs to be known about an NFL star who is more comfortable making memories for a fan battling cancer than being in the limelight.

It was a Friday afternoon during offseason workouts and Coughlin, then the Giants coach, was having his annual Sundae Blitz event at the team facility. One afternoon every year, the Giants facility is taken over by children battling cancer and their families, invited their by Coughlin. It is a day where they forget about being sick, rather spending their time going through NFL drills and being instructed by players and coaches.

The day ends with a barbecue and ice cream sundaes in the team cafeteria. But this one boy was late, having had chemotherapy treatments that morning. His parents rushed to try to get him to the event; he was a huge Giants fan and his favorite player was Manning. He wanted to meet the Giants quarterback and simply talk to him.

The event ended and Coughlin remembers Manning sticking around for a half-hour, waiting for this fan to show up. He never did and Manning left.

“It didn’t seem like the family was going to make it so Eli started home. The boy showed up with his dad, the dad was carrying the boy,” Coughlin told ‘Giants Wire.’

So the organization called Manning who was on the road, heading to his north Jersey home. He quickly made a U-turn and came back to the facility to spend time with the family.

“They thought it was the greatest experience of their life. The boy passed away a few weeks later unfortunately,” Coughlin said.

In a letter to the Giants, the father said that “it was one of the most exciting things in his young life and the dad would never forget the act of kindness from Eli.”

This Friday the Giants will host the Sundae Blitz event once again in conjunction with Coughlin’s Jay Fund foundation. The charity supports families with a child battling cancer.

The charity was named in honor of Jay McGillis, a safety at Boston College who played for Coughlin. McGillis was diagnosed with leukemia while playing at Boston College and died eight months later.