ST PAUL, Minnesota — It's been nearly four years since Landen Hoffmann was thrown from the third floor of the Mall of America and miraculously survived.
The nearly 40-foot fall shattered his wrists, hands, and elbows, broke his femur, shattered the bones in his face and injured his brain.
The now-9-year-old boy has come a long way since then and on Sunday, one of his dreams came true.
Landen is a huge hockey fan. His favorite team is the Minnesota Wild and his favorite player is Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin.
The teams competed against each other on Sunday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul with the Wild beating the Capitals, 5-3.
The Wild and the Capitals heard Landen's story and teamed up to make it a special day for him.
Landen, along with his family, got the chance to meet Ovechkin and Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov after the game. The pair chatted with Landen, gave autographs, and posed for photos.
"It takes your breath away for a minute. That's how it feels exactly," said Kari Hoffmann, Landen's mom.
Landen said it was a dream come true.
"Seeing the look on Landen's face, seeing the look on mom's face, seeing that she almost came to tears that this was her baby who went through a horrific incident and to see them now come four years later ... he looks amazing. It truly is a miracle. It truly is a miracle that he's doing as well as he's doing," said Wayne Petersen, director of community relations and hockey partnerships for the Minnesota Wild.
Petersen said they were first contacted by a hockey mom from Albert Lea who saw Landen's story on KARE 11 and suggested the Wild do something for Landen. Landen also did an interview with Good Morning America where he mentioned Ovechkin is his favorite player. That prompted the Capitals to reach out to the Wild.
"So it's two teams working together for the good of one family," Petersen said.
Reflecting on the past four years, Kari said, "It still feels unreal. I'm just so happy to be here. We have no injuries, nothing but celebrating left to do."
You can watch Julie Nelson's interview with Kari and Landen, here.
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