Source: Joe Murphy / Getty
Lakers Legend Shaquille O’Neal is taking a break from his insult-slinging rap beef with Damian Lilliard to do some good in the community.
O’Neal decided to buy a home for a mother whose son was paralyzed at a football game. Back in August, 12-year-old Isaiah Payton was leaving a football game when someone started shooting and he was hit by a stray bullet in the spine which paralyzed him. After recovering, he was told that he couldn’t leave the hospital until his home was up to code to accommodate someone living with a long-term visibility. Unfortunately, the one-bedroom apartment he grew up in with his family was no longer an option.
Big Diesel saw the story and just couldn’t stand by why the family suffered, so he decided to step in and help by buying them a home.
“I was watching the story and it’s just sad,” O’Neal said. “It could have been any one of us. It could have been my son. It could’ve been your cousin and she was living in a one-bedroom house with her two boys so we found her a one-bedroom house in College Park.”
O’Neal owns a few Papa John’s, so he enlisted the help of a few board members, the Atlanta City Fire Department, Payton’s mother will also serve will also receive assistance.
“I’m going to pay her rent for the year and I’m going to give her some furniture and it’s sad because her son is paralyzed from the chest down and no mother should have to go to that,” O’Neal said.
