Shaquille O’Neal furnishes dog attack victim’s house and buys her a new laptop
It’s a memory that no little girl should carry. 5-year-old Syrai Sanders was walking to the school bus stop with classmate and next door neighbor Logan Braatz, when they were viciously attacked by two large dogs.
Sanders spent weeks in the hospital and barely pulled through after undergoing 8 surgeries in 2 months. Sadly, Logan didn’t make it.
Braatz’s uncle Andie Brasley, who described Logan as his very own ‘mini-me’, told AJC that he was outraged.
“Logan deserved better than this,” Brasley said. “Syari deserved better than this. The other children deserved better than this. And it’s up to us to do something about it.”
When asked about her friend, a gloomy Sanders said, “I miss Logan, playing with him, talking to him.”
While she couldn’t get her friend back, she would get a surprise invite from a gentle giant who would help her smile again.
How Shaquille O’Neal Helped a 5-Year-Old Girl Heal
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
That giant was none other than basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal. Seeing Syrai’s awful story on the news gave him the motivation to act. And so, he invited the Sanders family out to ‘Go Rooms Go’ furniture store in northwest Atlanta. There, he would buy them brand new furniture to help them turn to a brand new page. He also bought Syrai a new laptop.
Footage caught Sanders and the giant kid O’Neal playing hide-and-seek throughout the store, with O’Neal hiding. You can bet that Syrai had an edge in that game.
Syrai’s father, Willie Sanders, said that O’Neal has been in touch with the family since the attack and continues to check up on her. He also added that it’s not about fanfare for the big guy.
We stayed in contact every day, we mentioned she’s alright and he came around even now, he didn’t want to get on the camera because he didn’t want to do it for the news. He’s a great man to me.
Sanders still has a long road to recovery, which can include more surgeries.
Yet, her mother Jeresha Williams told FOX that within a week of leaving the hospital, Syrai has not only been dancing and smiling, but has also put on a brave face.
“Today was her first time seeing herself and I didn’t know how she was going to handle it, but she was looking as though she was looking at how she was, how she had been throughout her life and I asked her ‘Did you see how beautiful you are?’ and she said ‘Yes,’” said Williams.
Now that’s the resilience of a champion. Meanwhile, Sanders said that her motivation is getting back to school and playing the piano.
How Shaquille O’Neal Proved That Kindness Heals
The dog’s owner, Cameron Tucker, was arrested for reckless endangerment. Let’s hope it serves as a reminder for dog owners to keep their dogs leashed or locked to avoid another nightmare.
On the brighter side, it’s nice to see a girl’s spirit triumph over tragedy. And when you have a real-life superman in your corner whose heart is bigger than his build, there’s not one scar that stands a chance.
You don’t need an ‘S’ on your chest to be a hero, you just have your heart in the right place.
be a superhero
Anyone can be a superhero, as long as they have their heart in the right place.
Shaq lends helping hand to family of child mauled in vicious dog attack
Shaquille O’Neal holds 5-year-old Syrai Sanders. (Photo via @aungeliquefox5)
Two months after surviving a horrifying dog attack on a southwest Atlanta street, 5-year-old Syrai Sanders returned home Wednesday, hoping to return to some semblance of normalcy after a tragic ordeal that necessitated eight surgeries (with more to come) and claimed the life of another child. Finding that might be impossible, but one NBA legend wanted to do what he could to help.
From The Associated Press:
Shaquille O’Neal has bought new furniture for the family of a 5-year-old Atlanta girl who survived a dog attack that left another child dead. […]
O’Neal met Sanders and her family at an Atlanta furniture store and picked up the tab for new items. The family tells WAGA that the former NBA star and current TNT analyst has been involved with the family since the attack.
On Jan. 17, Syrai was one of several children walking to a school bus stop when two dogs set upon them in what the Atlanta Journal Constitution described as “an extraordinarily savage attack”:
The scenes from Gideons Drive Tuesday were shocking and unforgettable. Little kids fighting with vicious dogs, trying to keep the animals off their friends. An Atlanta police officer, gun in hand, approaching a dog on the porch, the dog’s fur tinged pink with the children’s blood. A neighbor going after the dogs with a gun of his own.
Logan [Braatz, age 6] and Syari were classmates at F.L. Stanton Elementary School and lived one house apart from each other. Both were targeted by the dogs, described as pit-bull mixes, which neighbors recognized as living at a house nearby. Logan and Syari were no match for the animals.
From WSB-TV in Atlanta:
Shamonta Clayton, a neighbor to the children who were attacked, said he woke up this morning to screams and ran outside. He found a little girl who had been badly mauled.
“As I get to the end of the street, I see the child’s unconscious body laying in the middle of the street,” Clayton said.
He noticed another dog and followed it, finding children pinned on a porch in the back of an abandoned house.
“So I chased the dog away from the kids, and I noticed the second child, a little boy, his unconscious body laying down in the grass,” Clayton said.
The dog circled back to the child and Clayton said he chased the dog off with his gun.
“I picked the child’s body up because his mom couldn’t do nothing but sit there and just cry,” Clayton said.
Syrai suffered serious dog bites to her head and face, but survived. Logan died at the hospital later that morning.
Officers arrested Cameron Tucker, the dogs’ owner, and charged him with two counts of reckless conduct, both misdemeanors. The Fulton County district attorney’s office later upgraded one charge to involuntary manslaughter, but both charges were reduced last month to misdemeanor manslaughter.
According to FOX 5 in Atlanta, Hall of Famer and Turner Sports commentator O’Neal has been involved with Syrai’s family since learning of the attack on the news.
“He stayed in contact every day,” Syrai’s father, Willie Sanders, said. “He made sure she was all right. He came around. Even now, he didn’t want to get on the camera and he didn’t want to do it for the news, but yeah, he’s a great man to me.”
Syrai still needs more surgery as she continues her recovery, and it’s not yet clear when she’ll be able to return to school. But she’s back home, and she’s on the way.
“She’s doing awesome,” Sabrina Williams, her grandmother, said Wednesday, according to the AJC. “She’s got her same spirit.”
