ABC/Image Group LAAs Christmas nears, Russell Dickerson is playing secret Santa for a 17-year-old fan.
Over the summer, a teenage Utah native named Sarah Frei was driving with her friends when they were hit head-on by a drunk driver. Sarah became paralyzed from the waist down and lost both her legs.
She’s also a huge fan of Russell’s music: So much so that, while she was recuperating from her injuries in the hospital, her school’s cheerleading squad created a special routine set to the singer’s “Home Sweet,” which is Sarah’s favorite song.
When the country star heard her story, he wanted to do something special for his young fan.
“To see the joy, and to see the zeal for life still that she had…it just drew me in and captured me, and I was in,” Russell explains. He decided to team up with Chevrolet to surprise Sarah with a 2021 Chevrolet Traverse with all the amenities to suit her needs, including maximized cabin space and a fully-powered and lighted ramp.
“My manager told me, one of the first things Sarah said when she got out of surgery was, ‘Will I ever be able to drive again?’” the singer continues. “I was like, ‘What can we do to just absolutely make her life? How can we just blow her mind?’”
This week, Russell hopped on a Zoom call with Sarah and her mom to surprise her with her Christmas gift: A brand new car that she’ll be able to drive.
“Home Sweet” comes off the track list of the singer’s sophomore album, Southern Symphony, which came out this month.
By Carena Liptak
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