Young Fan Carried by Jason Kelce ‘Was Crying Happy Tears’ After Taylor Swift Waved at Her (Exclusive)


Jessica Piazza tells PEOPLE that her daughter Ella “sat in shock the rest of the game” after Kelce helped her meet Swift

Ella Piazza couldn’t stop smiling after meeting Taylor Swift and Jason Kelce.

The 8-year-old Rochester, New York girl — who went viral after a shirtless Kelce, 36, helped her wave at Swift, 34, during Sunday’s Bills-Chiefs playoff game — and her mother, Jessica Piazza, tell PEOPLE that the once-in-a-lifetime moment left Ella “in shock” during the second half of the game.

“Ella sat in shock the remainder of the game, and I was also so excited about the interaction as a Swiftie myself,” says Jessica, who was overjoyed that her “daughter’s dream just came true!”

The moment almost didn’t happen, though. Before halftime of Sunday’s game, the mother-daughter duo weren’t even on the same side of the stadium as Kelce, Swift and their suite full of friends and family. “We were actually across the stadium in our seats and everyone was telling us where she was,” says Jessica. “A really nice man in front of us had binoculars and let Ella use them to try and spot her before the game!”

A friend of Jessica’s knew someone sitting just below the Kelce family suite, and they offered to switch seats with Ella and Jessica who hoped to show the “Mastermind” singer her sign. Once in the section below Swift’s suite, Ella got creative during the break and “climbed up the bleachers” after noticing “many people had left during halftime.”

Ella says that Swift “smiled and waved at her” when Kelce approached the suite with her in his arms.

Immediately following the big moment where Ella — whose sign read, “Buffalo Bills + Taylor Swift = Best First Game Ever” snapped a photo with Kelce, the lucky fan’s mom says Ella was brought to tears with joy.

“Ella took a couple of minutes after where she was crying happy tears and telling me what happened,” says Jessica.