Just an amazing story that started when the Lions played the Bears in Chicago a few weeks ago.
Lions went above and beyond and didn’t tell anyone about it. Great story and may have brought a few tears.
full article at link
Because this is a story that has unfolded in the most unlikely way with several twists and turns, with moments of pain and joy.
Schmidt’s father, Wally Schmidt, collapsed at Soldier Field in Chicago on Dec. 22 as the Lions were getting ready to play the Chicago Bears. Ben Roth, an off-duty paramedic and Lions season-ticket holder, rushed to help, restarting Wally’s heart with an AED. That gave Schmidt, also a big Lions fan, four or five extra hours with his father, who passed away that night from heart failure.
So, the Lions wanted to do something for them, something quiet and dignified, just to bring them some joy, trying to make their lives a little better in a time of grief.
The Lions flew Schmidt and two guests and Roth and his wife and daughter to Detroit over the weekend, setting up several special moments. The Lions put them up in a hotel and gave them tickets and field passes for Sunday night’s regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings — the biggest regular-season game ever played at Ford Field.
“I just felt like I was kind of floating down there for a little bit,” Schmidt said. “It was kind of surreal.”
That’s true philanthropy on the Lions part, doing all of this without saying a word. Our leadership is something else. I’m glad to know the story, but I almost wish they hadn’t said anything.
Of course my inner cynic is telling me this is how the philanthropist would set it up so it gets known, but I’m choosing not to believe it because it’s our Lions and we really do seem to have good people at the top. But if it was any other team? Yeah I wouldn’t buy it.
Yeah that’s fair, we want to be known as nice. I just think it’s disingenuous from big organizations, who are almost always not nice and doing it for PR reasons.
Also in my case, at least at the sandwich shop, I only want them to see me so they don’t spit in my food.
This one makes sense, as far as Lions not being behind it, at least to me.
The writer wrote the Bears/Lions story where this paramedic saved the father on the sidelins of Soldier field. He says they reached out to him as they wanted it to be known. I can see that being realistic.
But no matter what, it’s a great story on the two families