Abriya Ellison has had a rough few months.
The 5-year-old girl was left paralyzed from the waist down in a drive-by shooting at an April 10 neighborhood party. She completed her rehabilitation program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta last week after undergoing several surgeries following the shooting, Channel 2 Action News reported.
But the tough road to recovery came with a bit of sunshine: OutKast rapper Big Boi offered to pay her medical costs that were not covered by her GoFundMe account. So far the fund has accumulated nearly $3,000 of the needed $5,000.
The rapper is also paying for Ellison’s wheelchair-accessible bathroom.
Big Boi, whose real name is Antwan Patton, told Channel 2 his brother saw Ellison’s story and urged him to help.
“One thing that struck me about Abriya is her energy and her spirit was just up,” he said.
Patton, who shares Ellison’s love of dogs, also gave the young girl a puppy she named King.
“There’s nothing like having a companion of a service dog or something therapeutic that you can love on (and) that can love you back,” Patton told the news station. “She’s been through a lot, and to see how strong she is now, that was just ... very inspiring. It just touched our heart, so we’re just trying to do what we can to help.”
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