Basketball legend pays for funeral of 11-year-old boy who died amid coronavirus crisis

Basketball legend pays for funeral of 11-year-old boy who died amid coronavirus crisis

Shaquille O'Neal has once again yielded to the call of a family in need after tragedy struck. 

The basketball legend paid for the funeral expenses for an 11-year-old boy who tragically lost his life in a car crash in Louisiana on April 10. 

Keshon Batiste and another 12-year-old boy were riding behind a vehicle when it crashed into a ditch and struck a tree, with both boys losing their lives. 

Batiste's family had no insurance to cover for the funeral expenses as their loved ones created a GoFundMe account. 

A retired chief deputy officer Phil Conrad who happens to be a close pal to O'Neal, revealed that the LA Lakers legend got to know of the tragic news in a local report. 

"He (Shaq) called me and asked me to reach out to the family on his behalf and get back to him," Conrad told KLFY.com. 

"When I called him back and told him that the family had raised over $3,000 in a GoFundMe, but was still short of what they needed, he immediately sent money to me, and I wrote a check." 

The two boys have been finally laid to rest on Saturday, April 25, 2020. It is not the first time O'Neal has reached to a family in need but has decided to keep a low profile about how he gives.

 A five-year-old girl from North Carolina was kidnapped and killed in November 2009 and the four-time NBA champion responded by paying for the funeral. 

Another incident in 2017 where a 13-year-old boy in Georgia who accidentally shot himself on Instagram while playing with a gun as the Olympic gold medalist also paid for his burial. 

Mother of Mikel's twin daughter throws him surprise birthday party amid COVID-19 O'Neal paid for the funeral of a seven-year-old girl shot in Texas while in the car with her mum and three sisters in December 2019.

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