A Black single dad is counting his blessings following an outpouring of love and support after his TikTok video went viral. Donald Wilson of Detroit became a single father to children Donald Jr., 5, Poetry, 4 and Honesty, 1 in August after their mother and his ex, Lakenya Wilbourn, died of a stroke.
She was just 39 years old. Though the pair were no longer together, they were co-parenting. Wilson, 33, told People Magazine how hard his family’s struggles have been. “It was more day-to-day survival,” Wilson explained. “I didn’t have any money, I went to emergency food pantries... It was a lot.”
Wilson’s neighbor, Colin McConnell, is a TikTok producer who noticed the family’s struggles and decided to spur into action. He decided to take to the popular app to address his followers about Wilson’s plight.
The result was a sizeable plethora of money, gifts, toys, clothes, food and gift cards. and cash. Wilson was stunned by the generosity. “I’ve never felt so overwhelmed with joy. I never really felt joy, and if this is what it feels like, I want everybody to experience it,” Wilson stated.
“I guarantee you, you are going to feel it in your body and your body language. And you are going to want to give it back to others.” He also said he was moved by the kind words. “I got a card from a woman in Texas that said ‘Howdy partner. Merry Christmas. You got this. You are the big dad.’
“Those cards were so uplifting,” Wilson remembered. “I read some of them with my 13-year-old son and we just laughed and hung them around, put them on the ledge and used them to decorate the Christmas tree.”
He said this kindness will stay with him forever. “This has given me so much compassion within myself. Sometimes it’s just random acts that can change lives.”