Sir Rod Stewart has donated almost £25,000 to a group of disabled children who trekked to protest the GOP healthcare bill.
The 72-year-old singer songwriter was touched when he heard the Tach Mommas of Louisiana group had travelled from Louisiana to Washington DC, to speak out about the healthcare issue, which threatened to cut the social healthcare programme Medicaid.
The ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About It’ hitmaker watched the group of mothers and children in a segment on ‘Erin Burnett OutFront’ show, which documented them on their journey.
And what struck a chord was that Trach Mommas had only raised $7,000 to fund their trip, but they needed to have made $30,000 to afford their entire travel, which they didn’t have.
After hearing the news Rod contacted his manager, Arnold Stiefel, and asked how he could help the group.
The email Rod – who is married to Penny Lancaster – penned, read: "I’ve just seen something on CNN that’s heartbreaking. It was a group of families with severely disabled children who are driving to Washington to confront about health care cuts. See if you can find out who they are.
"I’d like to help in some way."
And Rod – who has children Kimberly, Ruby, Sean, Renee, Liam, Sarah, Aiden, and Alastair, – felt as a parent he was obliged to come to the group’s aid.
Arnold told CNN: "He was so touched and heartbroken and actually teary.
"He said to me ‘As a father of eight I have to do something now.’"
Rod’s team contacted the co-founders of Trach Mommas, Angela Lorio and Jessica Michot, and the star wrote out a cheque worth $23,000 to help them with their task.
And Tech Mommas were taken aback with the music legend’s kind gesture.
Angela said: "Medicaid being cut, it’s not just numbers. And to have a person like Rod Stewart be so touched that he would do something like this to pay for the rest of our bus trip, it just blows my mind. It really, really, blows my mind."
Sir Rod Stewart donates £25,000 to Tach Mommas to help fund their protest
