Darby Father’s Serendipitous Encounter Funds Trip to Rio and Olympics

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Liz Willock and Ellis Hill
Photo of Liz Willock and Ellis Hill from their GoFundMe campaign to get Hill to Rio de Janeiro.

Ellis Hill hadn’t planned on traveling to Rio de Janeiro to watch his son, Darby native Darrell Hill, compete in the shot put in the Olympics.

He just couldn’t afford it.

It was perhaps serendipity, when, barely four weeks into his tenure as an Uber driver, he transported a woman from Chicago on her trip from the Philadelphia airport to her hotel.

Liz Willock, who’d settled into her seat for the long ride navigating the security and traffic from the Democratic National Convention, struck up a conversation with Hill that eventually veered toward the Olympics, writes Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post.

Willock mentioned that she knew someone competing in the Olympics.

Hill had one better. His son was, too.

When she discovered that he wouldn’t be bound for Brazil, she offered this: What if she could find a way to get him there?

“It just made me sad because any loving parent would want to see their child compete in the Olympics,” she said.

She started a GoFundMe campaign — which has been a go-to site for many Olympic athletes who need money to supplement their training or to finance their families’ trips to Rio — and made a fundraising page for Hill.

Darrell shared it on social media, and within two days, they’d exceeded the $7,500 goal she’d set for flights, hotel, meals, and other travel expenses.

“There’s been a lot of magic through this whole process,” she said. “It’s really meant to be, I believe.”

“People are people, so until they do something different, you expect the best out of people,” Ellis Hill said. “It’s an awesome thing.”

Click here to read more about Ellis Hill’s chance encounter with Liz Willock in the Washington Post.

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