Shaq Pays A Year’s Rent For Family Of 12-Year Old Boy Paralyzed In Football Game Shooting
Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has donated a year’s rent in a new home to an Atlanta woman whose 12-year-old son was paralyzed in a shooting at a football game.
Shaq tells WXIA-TV that Isaiah Payton‘s family had been living in a one-bedroom apartment that wasn’t accessible for people with disabilities. Now they have a home in a good neighborhood. He says he’s helping furnish the home and will pay its rent for the next year.
Isaiah was shot through the spine in August after a football scrimmage between two high schools. Isaiah’s mother, Allison Woods, has said relearning how to care for Isaiah meant she had to leave her job, adding financial stress to her emotional turmoil. Now along with the free rent, she’s given a budget for a year to help.
Isaiah’s friend, Damean Spear, suffered a gunshot wound to his leg during the shooting. A 15-year-old boy, whose name is not being released, has been charged with aggravated assault in connection to the incident.
“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,” Atlanta police chief Erika Shields said Thursday.
The kind act by Shaq is a great help for Isaiah and his family during this transition and his recovery.
