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BEHIND THE STRIPES

The Brewer Family

Por Atlanta United FC

22 de September de 2025

Making their way to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Matthew and Jamie Brewer were fighting back tears. A rainbow appeared in the sky, and it all came back to them.

Five months earlier in December of 2024, they were in the back of an ambulance with their 10-year-old daughter Caroline. It would be the last full day of her tragically short lifetime after a battle with a rare form of brain cancer.

“We told her we loved her a million times, and she knew that,” Matthew recalled. “Jamie said, ‘Send us rainbows. Make sure you send us rainbows.’”

And, on that May day, there it was over the horizon. Caroline sent them a beautiful one for a particularly special occasion. The Brewer family was headed to watch Atlanta United face Orlando City SC May 28, where her brothers Will and Jack were set to be honorary captains for the match in Caroline’s memory.

The emotions were difficult to control as they rolled down I-85 to the sight of brilliant colors, just as they were talking about Caroline.

“Some things are so amazing that you can't use words to describe how incredible something is,” Matthew said. “It’s an experience that you have in the moment that you can't relate to someone, or you can't translate it.”

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Caroline lived life with an unbridled joy and spunk, an incredible testament to the person she was despite undergoing severe surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and more at such a young age.

She was three years old when she was diagnosed with Anaplastic Ependymoma, a rare brain tumor. According to the surgeon who operated on her, it was the size of a softball.

“To have that much pressure and that much size of tumor in a tiny little head [was] just unfathomable,” Matthew said.

The MRI was on a Sunday, and doctors rushed her into an emergency Monday morning surgery. Matthew remembered the hospital allowed Will, Jack and other family members to be there with Caroline despite the severity of the procedure.

“We were like, ‘Oh, that's such a nice gesture,’ but it was because they thought that she would die during the operation,” Matthew said. “We didn't know it at the time, but it was potentially going to be like a last opportunity to hang out with Caroline.”

Amazingly, Caroline survived what was an invasive surgery. It was just the start of her battle, but that day, she won. She went on to have a total of 19 surgeries, four of which were major tumor removals.

The Brewer family is forever grateful for the quality of life Caroline had throughout her treatment. Caroline didn’t like missing school and not seeing her friends, but those interruptions were mostly temporary. For substantial portions of her life, she got to run around, play with her brothers, live like a kid should.

“Considering that the cancer she had was so deadly and, frankly, incurable, her doctors and nurses did a fantastic job of making sure that she could have as much normalcy as you can,” Matthew said.

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"While she’s not here with us, physically, she left such an impact on us. She shaped who we are.”

Soccer was more than a game for Caroline. It was an outlet.

She grew up a huge fan of the sport and of Atlanta United, and the club helped her and the rest of the Brewer family make some incredible memories throughout her life — experiences that distracted from the harsh realities of treatment.

Because of all the radiation she had to take on from her treatment, doctors told her not to participate in contact sports.

“Soccer was the one sport she wanted to play, but she couldn't because the risk of head injury was just too great,” Matthew said. “I think for her, she got to kind of live vicariously through watching the players.”

Her first encounter with Atlanta United came when she was named a member of the club’s Survivor Squad. The 5-Stripes hosted a group of pediatric cancer patients and their families for a day of fun activities at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground. Matthew remembered being blown away by how the children were received and how much fun they had together, kicking soccer balls around, seeing the locker room.

The experiences were, intentionally, curated for the whole family to be a part of. In September of 2021, the Brewers were invited to come up onto the supporter’s stage during Atlanta United’s match against D.C. United for pediatric cancer matchday. It was an unforgettable night — Jack still remembers the exact day of the match. When the 5-Stripes won, the entire squad came up onto the stage to celebrate with them.

“[We] went up on the stage, and they warned us because all the people in the crowd like to throw beer everywhere,” Will said. “When we got up there, they started throwing beer, going crazy. Your feet were stuck to the ground a little bit before the game ended too.”

Needless to say, Caroline loved it. She thrived off the energy of others, her personable character on full display. That night gave the Brewers even more perspective.

“How fortunate you realize you are, even with a child with cancer, the fact that you can still have them be able-bodied and be able to go to these events,” Matthew said. “You feel very fortunate, even though you know this is a terrible, terrible diagnosis.”

Treatment was a mental and physical toll on the entire family for years, but those intermissions of wonder and joy through sport were eternal. Matthew said having those memories, those photos, those videos of the fun times at Atlanta United matches helped her stay positive.

“We appreciate organizations like what [Atlanta United is] doing to make sure that these kids have those moments of happiness,” Matthew said. “Because I'm telling you, there are so many dark days, these are the kinds of things that the parents talk about with the kids when they're in treatment and say, ‘Remember when we did this?’ You met so-and-so, you pull out pictures on your phone.”

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The Brewer family makes a point to not stop talking about Caroline. About whom she was, about how she lived, about all the everlasting memories.

They choose to honor Caroline by sharing her stories: how she loved to pretend to fire people like she was a TV show boss, how she listened to her videos on full volume on the corner of the couch, how she wanted to be a nurse because of her love for children.

“She did so much,” Will said, “that your brain just overflows with all of these crazy things that she [did].”

Children who go through cancer treatments at such young ages, forced to confront realities they can’t fully understand, oftentimes lose much of their childlike spirit. Caroline was different. She stuck it out through every procedure, bringing her signature sass with her wherever she went. She wasn’t shaken when her physical appearance changed due to chemotherapy. She moved with confidence and an abundant love for life.

“She had a way she could make those doctors and nurses laugh,” Matthew said. “I think that's one of the reasons why they gravitated towards her. It’s supposed to be their job to comfort her, but a lot of times, she was comforting them.”

The family is putting together a collection of Caroline’s memorabilia, scarves from matches she went to, all her favorite things. The Brewers handle such immense heartbreak with a remarkable level of composure and acceptance.

“The way Caroline lives on is how we treat others and making sure that we're extending as much grace to people as Caroline did,” Matthew said. “She was a sassy, spunky person, and she thought she was in charge, but she also loved people so deeply. She was the type of person that you want to be around. And while we’re terribly sad and just honestly devastated that she's not here anymore, the fact that we had the time with her that we did, I wouldn't trade that for the world.

“But we the one thing we do remind ourselves is that she's healed now, and she doesn't have to suffer, because none of those children deserve to have a life of suffering like that.”

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The experiences that Caroline and the rest of the Brewer family had were indelible. Will and Jack’s honorary captaincy for the Orlando match in May was a fitting way to remember their sister and an extra special moment for the two.

“The way Caroline lives on is how we treat others and making sure that we’re extending as much grace to people as Caroline did.”

“That is the one hidden thing. The siblings, a lot of times, are just sort of sidelined, figuratively and literally,” Matthew said. “It's tough on them, because they didn't ask for this, and they didn't ask to see mom and dad sad, and they didn't ask to be sad. It's the fact that [Atlanta United] did what [it] did for them. [They] were blown away.”

Will and Jack walked out on the pitch with the players, presented them with the game ball and received a commemorative mini–Golden Spike with Caroline’s name on it.

Earlier that day, a rainbow led them to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. What unfolded later that evening left no doubt that Caroline was present in some way.

Down 2-0, Atlanta United surged back to tie the match. Then, Jamal Thiaré scored in stoppage time with a stunning strike to win the match for the 5-Stripes. The entire stadium erupted, and Will and Jack had front-row seats to the scenes.

“I have this really cool video of them scoring the last goal,” Will said. “It was insane. When they scored, whole crowd went crazy. It felt like Caroline was there to guide the ball into the goal.”

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September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. If you'd like to learn more about the wonderful organizations in Atlanta that support those with pediatric cancer and illness, check them out here: