A Woman Raised Money For Her Uber Driver To See His Son Compete in Rio

While some are avoiding travel to Rio over fear of Zika infection, others simply can’t make it due to the financial strain the long trip to Brazil poses.

This strain was going to prevent one father, Ellis Hill, from seeing his son Darrell compete as part of Team USA’s shot put Team.

According to a recent story in PEOPLE, that all changed when Hill, a part time Uber driver, picked up passenger Liz Willock. After an hour long drive though Pennsylvania, Hill eventually told Willock about his son’s forthcoming competition.

“When I told her about my son she was really amazed, but when she asked me if I was going over there to watch him, I said I really couldn’t afford it,” Hill told PEOPLE.

Willock, a sales leader for a concierge company, decided she had the resources necessary to bring the father and son together.

After their trip, Willock created a GoFundMe on Hill’s behalf with the goal of raising $7,500 to fund the trip.

That was on July 28. Two days later, the page had over half the donation goal reached. It’s been a week since the page was created, and the goal has been surpassed by $700 from 152 donations.

“I was ecstatic,” Hill told PEOPLE. “I feel really grateful and overcome by the knowledge that there are good people out there.”