Penobscot teen who survived leukemia headed to Super Bowl
Avery MacNair with a cardboard Patriots, is on his way to see his favorite team play in the Super Bowl this Sunday. Photo by John Boit.
Feb. 2, 2026
By John Boit
PENOBSCOT–The road to each season’s Super Bowl is long for any team. But it’s been an even longer journey for a Penobscot teenager, who is heading to the biggest sports event of the year as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Fifteen-year-old Avery MacNair, who successfully battled a rare form of leukemia for several years, will be in the stadium in Santa Clara, California, when the Patriots take on the Seahawks.
Avery will attend the Super Bowl with his brother, Skylar (left). Photo courtesy of Jamie MacNair.
MacNair has only known about the trip for a little more than a week, when it was revealed to him at a surprise party on Jan. 22 held for him at the Penobscot Fire Department.
Yesterday, while getting ready for the trip at Northern Bay Market, Penobscot’s general store run by his mother, Jamie MacNair, the teenager didn’t hesitate when asked what he’s most excited about at the Super Bowl.
“Seeing the Pats win,” he said without hesitation.
MacNair was diagnosed several years ago with an uncommon blood cancer, a fight that brought months of hospital stays, chemotherapy and long stretches away from school and friends. He lost all his hair. Signs for “Avery’s Army” cropped up on countless front lawns and telephone poles, a reminder that people from the small town and surrounding communities were pulling for him.
Now in remission and sporting a head of curly black hair, the teenager is marking the next chapter of his hard-won recovery with his first-ever NFL game.
“I was surprised they even made it this year,” MacNair said of the Patriots, referencing the team’s struggles last season. “They were like four wins and who knows what.”
MacNair and his older brother, Skylar, 23, will attend the game at Levi’s Stadium together. His mother, who will accompany the two brothers on three flights just to get to the game but will not be inside the stadium, joked that she will be “Super Bowl adjacent” at a watch party somewhere nearby.
Avery MacNair with his mother, Jamie. Photo by John Boit.
“It’ll be nice just to have a vacation,” she said. “It’s the longest I’ve ever left the store.”
The Make-A-Wish trip includes more than just game day. The family will take part in a multi-day itinerary that features welcome events, a visit to the field, and attendance at NFL Honors, the league’s annual awards ceremony. The week also includes opportunities to meet other wish recipients and experience behind-the-scenes moments tied to the Super Bowl.
MacNair said he doesn’t know what kind of seats they’ll have at the game—and doesn’t really care.
“I’ve never been to an NFL game,” he said.
But if there’s one player he hopes to see, it’s the Patriots’ young quarterback, Drake Maye.
“He’s my favorite,” MacNair said. Asked if he thinks he’ll meet him, MacNair said, “I hope I do. I doubt it, but you never know.”
MacNair had one more surprise on the morning of Feb. 3. Just as he, his brother, and his mother were getting into their car at Penobscot’s general store to head to the airport, a white stretch limousine pulled into the parking lot.
It was another gift from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, ready to take them to Portland to catch the first leg of their travels to the Super Bowl.
MacNair, ready to hit the road in the back of a limousine reserved in his honor. Photo by Jamie MacNair.
Watch the video below of the moment Avery found out he was heading to the Super Bowl.
