Big Boi to Pay Medical Bills for Atlanta Girl Paralyzed After Neighborhood Shooting [VIDEO]
Big Boi is giving back in a big way. The OutKast rhymer has promised to pay a 5-year-old girl’s medical bills after she was shot while playing in a bounce house in April. The incident left the young girl in a wheelchair paralyzed from the waist down.
Big Boi heard about Abriya Ellison's plight and wanted to help out. “My brother saw her story that morning and was like, 'Bro, we got to do something for this little girl,'” he told WSB-TV (Channel 2).
Big Boi will cover the girl’s medical bills and also pay for her to have a wheelchair ramp. The "Shutterbugg" rapper also gave Abriya a service puppy as well. “There’s nothing like having a companion of a service dog or something therapeutic that you can love on that can love you back,” said Big Boi. “She’s been through a lot, and to see how strong she is now, that was just...very inspiring."
Abriya just finished three months of intense therapy and fell in love with the service dogs at the hospital. When she was asked what she was going to name her service puppy, she replied, “King!"
Now with a puppy of her own, her mother, Andreauna Douglas, says it will greatly help in her daughter's recovery. “She’s been asking for it for the longest and I know that a puppy that she can take care of and now she has responsibility, it’s going to do nothing but help her," she said.
“I’ve been born ready for a puppy,” Abriya added.
Salute to Big Boi for giving this young girl a life-changing gift.