Uber driver to watch son at Olympics, thanks to passenger
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Retired bus driver Ellis Hill stood next to the car he uses as an Uber driver, parked in front of the high school once attended by his son, Olympic shot putter and Penn State graduate Darrell Hill, on Thursday, outside Penn Wood High School’s Green Avenue campus in Lansdowne, Pa. Hill was resigned to watching TV coverage of his son competing in the Olympics on Aug. 18, but passenger Liz Willock, of Chicago, raised more than $7,500 online in two days to send the retired bus driver to Brazil, his first trip outside the U.S.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Shot putter Darrell Hill competed for Penn State during the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Ore. in June 2015. Hill, now a Philadelphia-area Uber driver in Darby, Pa., was resigned to watching TV coverage of his son, shot putter and Penn State graduate Darrell, competing in the Olympics on Aug. 18, but passenger Liz Willock, of Chicago, raised more than $7,500 online in two days to send the retired bus driver to Brazil, his first trip outside the U.S.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Retired bus driver Ellis Hill held portraits of his son, Olympic shot putter and Penn State graduate Darrell Hill, on Thursday, in his home in Darby, Pa. Hill, now a Philadelphia-area Uber driver in Darby, Pa., was resigned to watching TV coverage of his son, shot putter Darrell, competing in the Olympics on Aug. 18, but passenger Liz Willock of Chicago raised more than $7,500 online in two days to send the retired bus driver to Brazil, his first trip outside the U.S.
PHILADELPHIA » A chance ride, an hourlong conversation, and the generosity of strangers are making it possible for a Philadelphia Uber driver to go to Rio to see his son compete in the Olympics.
Retired bus driver Ellis Hill didn’t have the money to fly to Brazil to watch his son, shot putter Darrell Hill.
“I was content with just staying home and getting a good bag of popcorn and watching him on TV,” he said.
But in late July, when the Democratic National Convention was in town, he was fortunate to pick up Liz Willock of Chicago at the Philadelphia airport.
“There was an air of love and peace,” he said. “I met a lot of interesting people and delegates from different states.”
Traffic restrictions and a slow drive to Willock’s hotel in New Jersey left plenty of time for conversation.
Eventually talk turned to the Olympics. Willock said she knew one of the swimmers competing. Hill did her one better and told her his son, who was a track and field star at Penn State, was in the competitions.
Then Willock asked Hill if he was able to go.
“When he told me he couldn’t go to the Olympics in Rio, I just wondered how I would feel as a parent of athletes,” Willock said.
Within minutes, Willock asked Hill whether he would go if she got him plane tickets.
Hill was stunned.
“I said, ‘Whoa, I don’t even know you,’” Hill said. “She said, ‘No, no, I believe it was meant for you and I to meet because I just missed my flight.’”
A GoFundMe page was set up, and “literally within two days, we’d raised the funds,” said Willock, who works at a concierge service arranging travel and accommodation for patients participating in clinical trials across the world.
Over 150 people had donated $8,200 by the time Willock closed the Send Darrell’s Dad to Rio fundraiser — some of them friends and classmates of Hill’s son, but most complete strangers.
As well as booking flights and making hotel reservations, Hill had to apply for a passport. It will be his first trip abroad.
Willock said she’s happy to be able “to help a stranger who’s no longer a stranger.”
“I’m sure we’ll be friends for life now,” she said.
Hill heads to Rio on Monday. His son celebrates his 23rd birthday Wednesday and competes on Thursday.
“A lot of Americans are getting gold, and I hope he’s one of them,” he said.
Associated Press writer Teresa Crawford in Chicago contributed to this report.
6 responses to “Uber driver to watch son at Olympics, thanks to passenger”
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Such a happy story. Hope he does as well as he can.
Awesome story – we need more feel good stories like this! Great to see that there are still NICE people in the world. I hope his son does great at the games – BRING HOME THE GOLD!
Black lives matter should be advised about this incident?
Anyone who has lost all hope in humanity should see this story
Good thing Philly hasn’t messed with Uber or this might not have happened. Good people travel Uber.
Ms. Willock is an awesome person. To help a complete stranger to get to go to the Olympics to see his son compete in person instead of “getting a good bag of popcorn and watching him on TV.” I’ll try to watch his son, Darrell compete “on TV” and cheer him on. Good luck. Have a safe trip.