When times get hard, those who are in a position to help often step up, and after hearing stories of the frontlines from his mother, Adam Butler did just that.
Butler's mother, Kim, works as a nursing facility administrator for DaVita, which serves kidney disease patients and those on dialysis, and in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Butler was struck by what healthcare professionals are seeing day-to-day.
In an effort to let his mom and her coworkers know they are appreciated, Butler bought lunch for more than 200 healthcare workers at different DaVita clinics throughout Texas.
"[I was] just thinking about the risk that they're taking, in terms of people who have families. I recently had a daughter. She's almost one. I can only imagine going to work and then not being able to come home and hug her and kiss her because I had been around someone who has COVID-19," Butler said. "I just don't want to give my children that. To me, heroes sacrifice. That's what heroes do. That just kind of resonated with me. I just wanted to do my part."'
Butler said he hoped his gesture would give those who needed a spark of hope and add fuel to their fire to keep going.
That includes his own mother, too. Over the past few weeks, Kim has been working both at home and at the facilities she oversees, and Butler said she and those who are out on the frontlines are inspiring.
"She's definitely a hero right now too. She's a real hero. It's very inspiring too because you know the medical staff, they're on salary. They don't get paid extra for any of this ... Maybe a pat on the back. For her to still make the commitment to go in and take a stand and fight against this pandemic that we're going against is really inspiring," Butler said. "It's humbling because sometimes as a football player, you can feel on top of the world, you can feel invincible. When things like this happen, it gives you a reality check that you're not invincible."
