This Woman Sent Her Uber Driver To Rio After Discovering His Amazing Olympic Connection

Willock and Hill (GoFundMe)

Ellis Hill had never traveled outside the U.S. before but now he’s in Rio getting to watch his son compete in the Olympics thanks to a chance encounter with a stranger.

The Pennsylvania cab driver was giving a ride to Liz Willock, who was so moved by his story that she set up a GoFundMe campaign to help send him to the Olympics to see his 23-year-old track and field star son Darrell compete. “It wasn't in the cards at all," Hill said in an interview with Upworthy. "I was thinking about getting a good bag of popcorn and sitting down to watch it on TV."

Darrell Hill (Team USA)

The GoFundMe was a huge success with 152 donors raising $8,200, exceeding the original $7,500 goals. The project also got some outside help, including a United Airlines pilot, who donated miles to cover Hill’s flight.

Ellis said he never asked Willock to help – the pair has simply gotten into a conversation about his son was competing. Willock asked Hill if he’d attend if he had a ticket and the crowd funding idea took off from there, despite the two being strangers. Willock was also able to use her work connections; she works for a travel company, to help arrange the surprise trip.

“It’s going to be extremely awesome for me to experience this,” Hill told NBC10.