In the immediate aftermath of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, which turned tragic when a mass shooting left one dead and 22 injured, Travis Kelce was “heartbroken.”
The city, where he’s spent his entire NFL career, means “the world” to him,” he wrote on X in the hours after the tragedy.
Kelce then donated $100,000 to the Reyes family — whose 8- and 10-year-old daughters were shot in the leg in the parade shooting — to support their recoveries, Page Six reported Friday.
“Travis has a really big soft spot for kids and wanted to make sure their families were taken care of and were supported with whatever they needed,” a source told Page Six.
Erika Reyes, the mother of the daughters, is reportedly the cousin of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, who was killed in the shooting.
The daughters underwent surgery and will be in casts “for several months,” the family wrote in a statement, according to the Kansas City Star.
Kelce’s donation wasn’t listed on a GoFundMe page created for the Reyes family, but the fundraiser had already surpassed its goal with over $177,000 as of Friday evening.
“This fund has been set up to benefit Reyes family in the recovery of their two daughters shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade,” the description on the GoFundMe page stated. “The girls were celebrating with many members of their family when they were senselessly injured. We ask that you continue to keep the family in your prayers as the girls work to recover.
“This fund will help provide vital financial support for their physical and mental recovery, any leftover funds will be saved for their college funds. All fund are being deposited into a bank account established just for the girls. Any amount is appreciated.”
Pop star Taylor Swift, Kelce’s girlfriend, also donated $100,000 — across two contributions — to a GoFundMe page set up in memory of Lopez-Galvan, signing the messages “with love” and “sending my deepest sympathies and condolences in the wake of your devastating loss.”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, visited the Reyes daughters at Children’s Mercy Hospital, too.
The parade originally started out as a celebratory event, one that followed the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl title in five years.
At one point, Kelce grabbed the microphone and sang a version of Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places.”
But the event took a harrowing turn when gunshots were fired near Union Station, which resulted in spectators scrambling away from the scene to protect themselves.
“I just remember the security guards ushering us through the doors quickly, saying, ‘Come on, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up,’” Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith said during a “Good Morning America” interview Thursday.
“They said, ‘This is not a joke. It’s a life and death situation.’”