“You’ll be ready for the Super Bowl,” he reportedly told her. And she was.
Galynn was diagnosed with cancer in June 2016, after battling health issues for several months, CBS Sports reported. Tom revealed earlier this year that Galynn’s chemotherapy and radiation treatments prevented her and his father, Tom Brady Sr., from attending any of his games throughout the season.
“I remember sitting in the doctor’s office and them telling me, ‘You have breast cancer and it’s only stage two,’ ” Galynn told NFL correspondent Andrea Kremer in a recent interview.
“The kind of cancer I had was a very fast growing, aggressive kind of cancer. It’s going to require a lot of chemotherapy and radiation. And so the journey began.”
She started five months of chemotherapy in September 2016 and wasn’t cleared to travel to Houston for the Super Bowl until just one day before her scheduled flight, according to the outlet.
“I think there’s a special bond between a mother and a son,” she told Kremer. “I just wanted to be there for Tommy, and I wanted to be there with our family. Everybody was going to the Super Bowl and I didn’t want to miss that.”
She cheered on her 40-year-old son from the stands at the NRG Stadium and, following the New England Patriots’ victory, the mother-son duo were photographed embracing, with Tom planting a kiss on his mother’s cheek.
“It was a euphoric feeling. I’m so glad I decided that I would go and just put cancer aside for that weekend,” she said. Tom’s father, Tom Sr., described watching the win as “one of the most joyous moments of our life after everything we had gone through.”
Patriots owner Robert Kraft later gave her a Super Bowl ring, the NFL announced. Though the months leading up to the big game were difficult for Galynn, Tom was a huge source of support, she said.
“Thursday, we’d go and I’d have my treatment. Friday, I’d be feeling good. Saturday, not good. Sunday, not feeling good,” she told Kremer. “Every Sunday, we’d watch the game together, so it was something to look forward to.”
She added: “We’d FaceTime a lot. Losing my hair was hard for me, and I think because, hair to women is who you are and I’d have my bandana and he’d say, ‘Mom, you look beautiful. You look so beautiful.’ ”
On Sunday, Brady’s wife Gisele Bündchen shared a touching photo with her mother-in-law on Instagram.
“So proud of this beautiful warrior,” she wrote. “I love you so much sweet Galynn.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.