Dwyane Wade surprising Waffle House hero on TV made us and Gabrielle Union cry
James Shaw Jr. is being celebrated like the hero he is and appeared on “The Ellen Show” to talk about his Waffle House takedown of a gunman and met basketball player Dwyane Wade—since Shaw is one of his biggest fans.
But it was Dwyane Wade who was inspired by Shaw’s presence.
“I know you don’t want to be called a hero, but I look at you as an American hero,” the NBA player told Shaw.
“When I sit down with my kids and I sit down and talk to them about role models and who I want them to look up to, I tell them to go look up James Shaw Jr.,” Wade said.
Shaw was moved by Dwyane Wade’s kind words and overwhelmed by all the love he’s received since taking matters into his own hands and grabbing a gun from a shooter at a Tennessee Waffle House. Many say Shaw’s heroism saved lives, but he’s too humble to admit that.
Ellen DeGeneres walked Shaw through those horrifying moments on her show.
“You see him reloading and you think, that’s my chance to go at him?” said Ellen
“Yes, I had a voice in my head that said ‘do it now, do it now,'” Shaw said.
“Wow, you’re a brave man,” said DeGeneres. “You’re a really brave man.”
Since the ordeal, Shaw raised more than $200,000 for the four victims who were killed. But he was not forgotten. Being a victim himself, someone else raised more than $200,000 on GoFundMe for Shaw.
—Kanye West’s Tubman tweet turns out to be rooted in erroneous fiction—
DeGeneres surprised Shaw by giving him that GoFundMe check on the spot and as a extra special gift she presented Shaw with an additional $20,000 from Shutterfly, an online photo service.
Wade said he couldn’t let DeGeneres one-up him and presented the father of a four-year-old yet another $20,000.
Gabrielle Union tweeted out a pic with her husband Wade and the humble hero.
When they hug… tears ???? https://t.co/HfPRzO2mN9
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) May 2, 2018
“When they hug… tears,” she wrote.
We’re not crying… You’re crying…
