All-Star John Wall helps cancer patient's Nicki Minaj wish come true
Washington Wizard John Wall is helping to make a young cancer patient's dream of meeting Nicki Minaj come true.
Last October, Damiyah "Miyah" Telemaque-Nelson was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as Burkitt's lymphoma, and the five-year-old had to endure months of chemotherapy as well as dialysis and spinal taps, in addition to extended hospital stays.
So when Miyah asked her mother if she could meet rapper/singer Nicki Minaj, Kadisha Telemaque told Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post she and her friends started an all-out assault on Minaj's social media pages detailing Miyah's story in an attempt to get the entertainer's attention.
A pal of Wall's showed one of the messages to the Washington Wizards point guard (who has friends of friends who know Minaj). Wall, in turn, invited Miyah and her family, who live in Northeast DC, to the Wizards' win against the Jazz on Wednesday night. And on Friday, Miyah and Wall released this message on Wall's Instagram account:
"I want to meet Nicki Minaj and I want one of her pink wigs,"€ Miyah relays in the video.
"Nicki, c'mon, help us out, help us get one of those pink wigs," Wall concurs, before enveloping Miyah in an adorable bear hug.
The heartwarming post quickly blazed its way across the Internet. Minaj's response came shortly thereafter:
Hi Miyah!!!! Let's see what we can come up with for a pretty little princess. ;) http://t.co/vfPiHtIs6U
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 7, 2014
"[Miyah] doesn't know the depths of it, but she's so happy," Kadisha Telemaque told the Washington Post on Saturday. "She said: 'Nicki wrote me, Mommy? You think you'€™re going to like me in my pink wig?'"
Wall saw the chance to use his million-plus Twitter followers to make a great assist.
"€œI had an opportunity with my celebrity status, knowing people that know people, to help this girl'€™s dream come true,"€ the popular 23-year-old point guard told the Post. "You never want to miss an opportunity to put a smile on a kid'€™s face."
Not to mention the kid's mother.
"I wasn't going to rest until I found a way to do it; I'm just surprised it happened so suddenly," Kadisha was quoted as saying. "And it came about so easily, I was like, 'Okay, dreams can come true.'"
Thanks to the Washington Post for sharing.