Simone Biles Gifts Friend Suni Lee’s Dad a New Electric Wheelchair

Olympian Simone Biles Gifts Teammate Suni Lee’s Dad a New Electric Wheelchair

By Emma Taggart on September 9, 2021

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A post shared by Sunisa Lee (@sunisalee)

American gymnast Simone Biles made headlines earlier this year when she bravely decided to withdraw from several events in the Tokyo 2020 Games in order to focus on her mental health. Now, the legendary, seven-time Olympic medalist is prioritizing another aspect of life that’s important to her—friendship. She recently pulled off an incredibly thoughtful gesture for her friend and teammate, Suni Lee, when she gifted Lee’s dad with a custom electric wheelchair.

In 2019, just two days before Lee was set to compete in the U.S. Championships, her father John fell off a ladder while trimming a tree. He was rushed to hospital, where his family later learned he was paralyzed from the chest down. Since then, he’s been using a manual wheelchair, which is usually pushed by his son, Lucky. In a bid to help out her friend’s family, Biles got in touch with The Today Show to gift John an electric wheelchair from Quantum Rehab.

Lee won three medals at this year’s Olympic Games, including gold in the women's all-around gymnastics competition. When the Olympian returned home from Tokyo, she was reunited with her family on The Today Show, where she’s captured putting the gold medal around her proud dad’s neck. The segment was recorded back in Lee’s hometown in Minnesota; however, her friend Biles was there virtually to present the surprise gift. “Hi, Mr. Lee, it’s Simone,” she says in a video. “I love your daughter, Suni, so much and I know how much she loves you. You have done so much for her so I reached out to my friends at The Today Show to see if we could do something special for you. Hope you like it!”

John was then led outside, where his family was waiting to surprise him with his new wheelchair. “Oh wow,” he said in shock. “This is amazing. Thank you, guys!” Today’s west coast anchor Natalie Morales then explained that the chair can be customized to suit his specific needs. A grateful John later said, “Now they don't have to keep pushing me around.”

Watch the heartwarming moment below.

Olympic medalist Simone Biles recently showed how much she cares for her teammate, Suni Lee, when she surprised her dad with a brand new electric wheelchair.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sunisa Lee (@sunisalee)

Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee’s heartwarming reunion with her family on our plaza after the Tokyo Olympics inspired Simone Biles to ask TODAY’s help in coming up with a big surprise for Suni’s dad, John, who was paralyzed two years ago. @NMoralesNBC has the details. pic.twitter.com/kXcA3FQsJa

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 1, 2021