Still Don't Believe Derek Lee is a Great Guy? Listen to This .. (Wednesday, June 17, 2009 2:26:00 PM)
I was volunteer caddying at a charity golf tournament a few
weeks ago when I heard this unbelievably awesome story about the Cubs' star 1st
baseman,
Derek Lee.
I was caddying for a couple Staples vendors who shall remain nameless, but my
guess would be they're fairly high up in the food chain since the average
donation at this tourney was $10,000. Around the 5th or 6th hole, one of
the guys hears that I'm a Cubs fan and tells me he has this great story about
D-Lee that he heard just the past week ...
(and this, by the way, is what he hears from a salesman he meets at a client site ... so we're like 4th hand now, but still, it's a good story)
This salesman's brother's kid (I think?) has
LCA, and if you're a Cubs fan, you may be aware that Derek Lee's daughter is also afflicted with LCA. Read the wiki if you want more info, but the short story is it's a degenerative eye condition that will cause a child to gradually go completely blind by adulthood. Terrible disease.
Early this season, probably April'ish, the family of this boy goes to a Cubs game. They brought with them a sign that said "Derek, I also have LCA", or something to that effect. They were sitting in a place where Lee had to have seen it, but he didn't give them much of any acknowledgement through the game ... but after all, he's at work. Who can blame him?
After the game though, this little boy and his mom went to the back gate and waited for Lee to come out, all the while holding the sign. Sooner or later, Derek Lee came out all by himself, walked straight over to the kid, and told him to come in. Inside, Lee signed a ball, a shirt I think, and talked with the boy about his condition and how he was dealing with it.
The mother explained that while they were dealing with the disease as best they could, the treatment was very expensive and it's a very rare disease so not many doctors knew much about it.
Lee apparently took this into consideration only briefly, then gave them the card of his daughter's doctor, who is one of the best specialists in the country. Is that it, you ask? No. It gets better.
Lee then pulls out his checkbook and writes a check for $125,000 and gives it to the mother, saying "If my daughter gets to go to this doctor, you should get to go to this doctor, too."
Now that's some class. I've already heard that Derek Lee was a fantastic and classy guy, but come on. This is Hugh Jackman classy. This is like Abe Lincoln's father's boss classy. What a guy, eh? Go Cubbies.
-Newman
Note: For the record, I can't verify the story other than saying it seemed like it was from a reputable, sincere source. Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't, but I'd like to believe it is and it's an awesome story.