Since January, Cleveland Cavaliers star J.R. Smith and his wife have spent a lot of time at the Cleveland Clinic neonatal intensive care unit. Their daughter Dakota was born five months early, weighing only 1 pound. Though she remains in the hospital, Dakota is now 6 pounds and her health is improving.
Over the last four months, Smith’s wife Shirley has chronicled their struggle on her blog as a way to help other mothers who are dealing with the stress of having a premature baby, while J.R. has posted updates on his Instagram as his team finished the season and started making their run through the playoffs.
Shirley’s wrote about how J.R. had the idea to offer some support to their fellow families in the hospital on Mother’s Day.
My husband came up with the brilliant idea of getting all of the mothers in the NICU flowers today so we did just that. When the flowers arrived I pushed the cart and Demi placed an arrangement of flowers in every room … it was super special and we both enjoyed it.
Throughout his career, Smith has gained the reputation of being a bit of an eccentric character, but his heart is definitely in the right place here.