When we first brought you little Shayla’s story last month, Detroit Pistons players reached out to us right away wanting to help.
This week, it all came together, with lots of hugs, smiles and tears.
Four-year old Shayla has brain damage, can’t talk or walk and can barely breathe on her own. She’s been hooked up to a ventilator since birth.
Her mother told us her two biggest challenges were watching her little girl struggle to live and trying to get her to and from much needed doctor appointments after their wheelchair accessible van broke down.
For two Detroit sports heroes who watched our story, it was a slam-dunk decision to help. And so the special surprise started to unfold.
We showed up at the family’s house this week, telling them we wanted to do another interview about their need for the van.
We left, and a few minutes later came back in the house with Pistons’ power forward Marcus Morris and center Andre Drummond.
And they didn’t come alone. A brand new wheelchair accessible Dodge van was waiting in the family’s driveway.
The NBA stars, who are committed to making a difference off the court too, were also touched.
The Pistons organization teamed up with Fiat Chrysler and Mobility Works to make it just right for little Shayla.
Now, a mother can take her deserving daughter wherever she needs to go, to get the help she needs, while forever being thankful to a few good people in her city.
You really did have to be there to feel all of the emotion, not just from Shayla’s family, but also from the players and everyone who had a hand in this.
Now as we root for Shayla to get better, we also want to root for our Detroit Pistons, so we have a big congratulations to them for making it into the playoffs.
