Derek Jeter called the mother of Victoria Soto, a young teacher killed while protecting her first-grade students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in last week's Newtown tragedy.
Jeter telephoned Donna Soto on Wednesday, the same day she laid her daughter to rest. Carlee Soto, Victoria's sister, tweeted the family's excitement about hearing from Jeter.
"Derek Jeter just called my mom!!!!! Thanks Vicki, she needs it thank you @yankees this meant a lot to my mother and all of us," the tweet read.
James Wiltsie, a cousin of Victoria Soto, said she had been a huge Yankees fan, according to the New York Daily News.
"Vicki loved the Yankees -- that was part of her eulogy," Wiltsie said Wednesday night. "No one in the family reached out, so (Jeter) must have heard about it and ... reached out."
The Yankees confirmed the phone call, but declined to go into details about the conversation.
Victoria was shot to death Dec. 14 as she shielded her students in her classroom. She was 27.
"Nothing is going to fix the fact that [Donna] had to bury her daughter today," Wiltsie told the Daily News. "But I'm happy that it brought some comfort. ... People like Jeter have reached out. It brings some comfort to know that people recognize Vicki as a hero."