 |
Carmello Anthony hugs Jarell Lara and his family on Christmas Day
|
Before his New York Knicks kicked off the NBA’s five-game Christmas Day slate, Carmelo Anthony helped make sure this is a merry Christmas for one family of fans:
Emotional moment when Melo gives car – w/ Garden of Dreams Foundation-Kia + his foundation – 2 Jarell Lara, 17, who has rare form of cancer pic.twitter.com/Zr5zXkScmN— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) December 25, 2016
Before taking on the Boston Celtics, the All-Star forward met Jarell Lara — a 17-year-old battling Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a rare form of cancer that can damage tissue or cause lesions to form in one or more places in the body — in the basement of Madison Square Garden to deliver a timely assist: the gift of a brand new car. From Jake Becker of the New York Daily News:
The Garden of Dreams foundation teamed up with the Carmelo Anthony Foundation in bringing Christmas cheer to Jarell Lara, who suffers from a rare form of cancer. Jarell’s parents and younger brother shared in the emotional moment, making Anthony their plus-one in a Lara family group hug. […]
Anthony handed Jarell the keys to the brand new Kia, giving Jarell’s mother tears of joy as she returned to embrace the Knicks star
“I can’t even stop crying,” Jarell’s mother said. “It’s amazing.”
Jarell underwent 18 months of chemotherapy treatment, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. The illness has taken its toll on the Lara family, forcing Jarell’s mother, Anne, to quit her job as a medical assistant to care for her son and his father, Fernando, to take a construction job to pay for medical expenses that necessitated the family’s move.
A new car won’t solve all of the family’s problems, but it might help lighten their load a bit and bring them some joy in a difficult time … and that’s not nothing.
“This is bigger than sports,” Anthony said, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. “Making a family happy, making a dream come true, giving them a day of happiness.”
No comments:
Post a Comment