Community Helps Man Raise Money To Go See Son In Rio Olympics

A Delaware County, Pennsylvania, father is flying to Brazil to watch his son compete in this summer’s Rio Olympics — something he never believed he’d have a chance to do– thanks to an Uber ride and a group of kind-hearted people who started a crowd-funding campaign to help fund his trip.

Community Helps Man Raise Money To Go See Son In Rio Olympics

“It’s going to mean a whole lot to me,” Ellis Hill, of Darby, told NBC10 about his chance to go see his son, Darrell, compete in shot put on the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team. “Many times, I really wanted to be with him on other meets that he was at, you know, and had to apologize for one reason or another, and this is actually what he’s been working toward for a long time. It’s going to be extremely awesome for me to experience this.”

Retired and disabled, Ellis Hill works as an Uber driver and bakes in his free time. During a recent Uber drive from the airport to Cherry Hill, he met Liz Willock. As Hill drove Willock to her destination, the 2016 Olympics came up in conversation, and Hill shared that his son was competing.

“She said ‘Are you going to go?’ I said, ‘I can’t afford to go over there,'” explains Hill, recounting the ride. “I said, ‘I’d like to go, but I really can’t afford to go.'”

Willock refused to let Hill sit out the chance to go see his son compete, and said if he wanted, she could help him get to Rio. Willock works for a global concierge service with contacts in Brazil.

“I said ‘You don’t have to do that,”” said Hill as Willock began forming a plan to get him to Rio. “She said ‘I’m going to do everything to make sure you go’ … She has a good spirit.”

Willock began a GoFundMe campaign to help Hill get to Rio, and by Sunday afternoon — within just two days of its launch– it surpassed its $7,500 goal. She added that her company will arrange all of his ground transportation and logistics from his home to the hotel in Rio.

“Outside of special things that have happened in my family, I think it’ll be one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life,” Willock said of this endeavor.

Hill, who said he was very grateful for the opportunity, is working on some of the logistics like getting a passport, something he’s never had before.

Hill said he came out of church on Sunday to a phone call from NBC10 letting him know the GoFundMe had reached its goal. He also received a text from his son Darrell, who is in San Diego preparing for the Games.

“I saw a text on my phone from him telling me to get all my stuff together, that the financial part had been taken care of,” Hill said. Darrell competes on Aug. 18.

One of the major contributors to the GoFundMe campaign to help Hill is local attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who kicked in $1,545 Sunday afternoon to help the fund reach its goal.

“I’ve been an athlete my whole life, and you know, I guess it just touched me,” Mongeluzzi told NBC10 by phone on Sunday. “I know he’s going to be so proud, and to help support our American team by helping support a father and a parent who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to watch their son in a once in a lifetime experience, it’s great for me, and I’m just happy to do it.”

Mongeluzzi, who played lacrosse at the University of Pennsylvania, said Hill’s story touched him because it reminded him how much it meant to him as an athlete to have his dad in the stands watching.

“I’m here with my 94-year-old dad at the Shore, and what could be better than a father and a son spending time together?” Mongeluzzi said. “I can’t think of anything that would make a father prouder than to go watch his son in the Olympics.”

EUGENE, OR – JULY 01: Darrell Hill participates in the Men’s Shot Put Final during the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on July 1, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)