Despite her disability, 24-year-old Alicia Day prides herself on trying to be independent and works part time as a greeter at Home Depot.
Day’s mother drives her to work and doctor appointments in the specially equipped van, which was their only mode of transportation.
WSB-TV’s Diana Davis reported on the situation where she featured the woman, who stated:
“That van is my whole life, you could say. That’s how important that van is to me.”
No worries. It’s?Tyler Perry to the rescue!
The Atlanta media mogul, who recently joined forces with Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network, heard about the family’s loss on that Channel 2 Action News.
Imagine Day’s surprise when she received a phone call from Tyler Perry telling her he wanted to replace her van!
?God is good, and Tyler Perry is just wonderful,? Day told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.
Day?has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. She?works at an Atlanta area home depot part-time and depends on the van for transportation.
How bout she?had a brand new van TWO HOURS after the story aired… compliments of Perry!
?It?s unbelievable, it happened so fast,? said Alicia?s dad Cecil, who answered the phone around 5 p.m. Monday. ?He said, ?This is Tyler Perry,? and I said, ?Who?? and he said Tyler Perry. He asked to speak to Alicia.?
Perry told Alicia Day he wanted to replace her van that same day.
?This made me feel so wonderful,? she said. ?Tyler Perry, of all people, decided to help a handicapped person.?
Perry personally drove to R & R Mobility Van & Lifts Inc. in Conyers, where the Days bought the customized van 12 years ago, when he got there the dealership was closed, but Perry convinced the manager to open back up so that he could get the van that day.
?I?d never seen anything like this,? said salesman Michael Bortvit. ?I had left for the day. I turned around and came back and met with Mr. Perry, who drove up alone in his Land Rover.?
Perry met Alicia?s parents, Cecil and Hannelore Day, at the dealership so that they could pick out their own vehicle. They were shown a selection of vans and chose a silver customized 2011 Volkswagen Amerivan, which?cost nearly $60,000.
?It was a humongous gesture of generosity,? Bortvit said. ?And it was obvious that not only was he not seeking recognition, he was going out of his way to avoid it.?
Perry has a fan for life in Alicia Day. ?I was a big fan of his even before this,? said Day, who said her favorite Tyler Perry movie is, ?Why Did I Get Married??
For the record, Perry has done several ‘good deeds’ around town in the past few years. He’s?saved Atlanta cub scouts, and?even rescued an 88 year old fire victim.?
Props to Tyler Perry for adding yet another good deed to his growing list!
CLICK HERE to watch video of the news footage.