Her Uber driver couldn’t afford the trip to Rio to see his son compete. So she raised the money to send him.
Liz Willock believes she missed her flight to Philadelphia for a reason. Had she not taken a later one out of Chicago, she might not have had Ellis Hill as her Uber driver on her trip from the airport to her hotel.
And if they hadn’t met, Hill would probably not be preparing to travel to Rio de Janiero to watch his son compete as a shot putter in the Olympics.
Hill had picked up Liz Willock during a trip in Philadelphia July 26. During their drive, they began to talk about the upcoming Olympics. That’s when Hill told Willock that his son, Darrell, was going to compete in shot put on the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team.
According to Hill’s son, his father is proud of his accomplishment.
“He pretty much tells everyone who gets into his car that his son is going to the Olympics,” Darrell Hill told The Delaware County Daily Times.
When Willock asked if Hill was going to Brazil to watch his son compete, Hill told her he couldn’t afford it.
“It was devastating to hear that,” Willock told People. “Here’s this wonderful man who has a close relationship with his son and I know any parent would want to see their son or daughter compete at the Olympics, but it was very understandable how that could be out of reach.”
That’s when Willock, who works for a global concierge service with contacts in Brazil, decided to help.
“She tried to see if her company could buy him a plane ticket, but it didn’t work out that way,” Darrell Hill told the Daily Times. “The logistics of it, she was not able to do it in the time it needed to be done so she approached me about starting a GoFundMe account.”
On July 28, Willock started the campaign. She asked for $7,500 to pay for a plane ticket, hotel, meals, passport and other travel expenses. Two days later they had reached their goal.
Yo.. Somebody just donated $1,545 to my go fund me. I was almost moved to tears. God is so good.
— Darrell Hill (@B1GHomie) July 31, 2016
Now all Hill has to do is get his passport and book a ticket in order to see his son compete on August 18.
“I haven’t seen my son in a couple months because he’s been training,” Hill told People. “I cant wait to see him and encourage him in person and let him know I’m 100 percent in his corner.”
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