In August 2019, a 12-year-old boy was leaving a football game at Lakewood Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, when gunfire broke out near the field. A stray bullet hit the boy, Isaiah Payton, in the spine along with another boy Damean Spear, age 15, who was hit in the leg and later released from the hospital.
Unfortunately, Payton was not released because the bullet that hit his spine, paralyzed him from the neck down. Additionally, after spending two months healing in the hospital, the boy was unable to return to his family’s one-bedroom home because it was not wheelchair-accessible. Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal found out about this incident and was heartbroken, so with the help of others, he retrofitted the boy and his family a new home.
The NBA Hall of Famer, O’Neil, said:
It’s sad because her son is paralyzed from the chest down, and no mother has to go through that.
Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields mentions in a news conference that Payton was not the intended target of the gunfire. “This was a reckless, heartless and cowardly act of violence that forever changed the life of a 12-year-old child and his family, and deeply affected another juvenile,” she added.
O’Neal has five children, including a teenage son and daughter, who are both athletic. “I was watching the story, and it was just sad,” he expressed. “It could’ve been any one of us. It could’ve been my son… it could’ve been your cousin.”
Immediately, the former Lakers star reached out to the boys’ mother, Alison Wood, to get the family moved into a home that can accommodate her son’s disability needs.
O’Neal explained:
We found her a house in College Park in a nice area. We’re going to give her some furniture, TVs and pay her rent off for a year and help her get on her feet.
He also said that he would be purchasing Ring doorbell cameras for their security. This new security and good neighborhood should help keep them safe in the future.
Wood has hope that her son will one day walk again:
I believe in miracles, and God — He is a powerful man.
O’Neal isn’t the only one helping Payton, the City of Atlanta Fire Department along with Papa John’s CEO Rob Lynch and chairman Jeff Smith are also donating to support the family.
This isn’t the first time O’Neal has shown acts of kindness or generosity. In the past, he surprised kids at pick-up basketball games and helped Marine Toys for Tots for the holidays. For more Basketball legends that are helping people in need, check out Michael Jordan’s new health clinic for the underprivileged people of North Carolina.
