This past week Waffle House hero, James Shaw Jr., got a major surprise when his hero, NBA star Dwyane Wade walked out onto the stage during the ‘Ellen’ show.
Ellen had asked Shaw to be a special guest on her program after she got word of his heroic actions.
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While on the show, Ellen asked Shaw who his favorite basketball player was, which Shaw responded to, “Dwyane Wade.”
“I like the way he carries himself of the court,” Shaw explained.
To which Ellen responded, “Oh yeah, well let’s see how he carried himself out here,” as Dwyane Wade entered the stage.
To say Shaw was surprised, was an understatement.
After the two share a hug, Ellen explains how after she told Wade that he was Shaw’s favorite player, he dropped everything and flew out to the show.
“I know you don’t want to be called a hero,” Wade said to Shaw, “but I look at you like an American hero.”
“Obviously how brave you are, but for me when I sit down with my kids and talk to them about role models, who I want them to look up to, I’ll tell them to go look up James Shaw,” Wade added.
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Wade then asked Shaw, “What do you want to see come from all of this?”
“What I want to see come out of this is, this is a public health problem that we have, a mental health problem that the United States as a whole has. One in Five individuals in the United States suffers from some type of mental disorder, which is close to 45 million people. So that’s a very large and eye-raising problem,” Shaw stated he is on a mission to raise awareness about the mental health problem amassing the country.
Shaw continued, “So I want to bring some type of awareness to it. You know I have a four-year-old daughter so I don’t want her to live in this world, as she matures and gets older. I just don’t want her to live in that problem, so if I can help that problem, I think that’s what I should do.”
It’s not every day that your hero, tells you that you are the role model he is pointing his kids too! Not only did Wade compliment Shaw’s actions, but he presented him with a $20,000 check.
You can watch the full video below: