*On Christmas Day, NYT Knicks’ All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony was in a giving mood and he did just that. With help from his Carmelo Anthony Foundation, the Garden of Dreams Foundation and Kia, the athlete presented a new to cancer patient, and his family.
The NBAer’s action came in the wake of being torched by his former Denver Nuggets coach, George Karl in his new book, “Furious George.” Carl blasted the young Anthony saying he didn’t have a father to teach him how to be a man. Maybe Karl forgot that Melo’s father died when he was just two years old.
In any event, It’s obvious that Carmelo Anthony has turned into quite the giving man himself with his special gift to young Lara and his family.
Lara, 17, is afflicted with a rare form of cancer that can damage tissue. It’s formally known as “Langerhans cell histiocytosis.” Jarrell completed 18 months of chemotherapy treatment earlier this year, and the cancer is in remission. Anthony met Lara a year ago through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Garden of Dreams and the Knicks, according to ESPN. Lara and his mother were stunned when Anthony handed the teen the keys to the car.
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“I don’t think you can put that in words,” Anthony told EPSN. “That is a family that I have gotten a chance to know. My foundation donated a car to them, working with Kia [and the Garden of Dreams] … and just to see the expression on their faces, the son, one of the kids wanted to cry but held it in … that is what it is all about.”
“I thought someone was punking me,” Jarrell told MSGNetworks.com of his thoughts when Anthony took the family to the loading dock ramp at Madison Square Garden, where the car was parked. “It hasn’t sunk in. It’s a blessing from God. There are so many people [that] Carmelo Anthony can help, and he chose to help me.
“It’s the greatest Christmas you could ask for.”
Lara’s mother Anne could not contain her emotions when she realized the car was for her son. She had quit her job as a medical assistant to care for her son, and Fernando Lara quit his minimum-wage job to work in the construction field while moving his family from their Washington Heights home in upper Manhattan to the more affordable South Bronx in order to better cover medical expenses, ESPN reported.
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“She lost it,” Anthony told ESPN. “I came [to the Garden] focused on the game and trying to come up with schemes to beat Boston and try to enjoy this game. [But] then you have to shift completely to just life in a snap of a finger. It was more emotional than anything.
“This is bigger than sport, bigger than basketball,” Anthony told ESPN. “Two wonderful foundations coming together, making a family happy, making a dream come true. Giving them a day of happiness. The family, as you can see, the mom is still crying. It is a bit of a surprise. They had no idea it was coming, and I am happy that I was able to kind of make this happen.”
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