Ellen Surprises Atlanta Soldier And His Mom With $30K And New Car

ATLANTA, GA — An Atlanta soldier received $30,000 and a new car from Ellen DeGeneres. Army Sergeant Shakir Aquill was invited on the show after producers saw a video of him surprising his mother in January at an Atlanta high school pep rally. Ellen tweeted a video of the episode on Monday.

Aquill said in the video, right before running onto the basketball court, that he hadn’t seen her in two years. She’s a resource officer at the school. When he comes out, there’s lots of cheering and his mother runs to embrace him. She’s seen wiping away tears.

Aquill told Ellen that on the day he left, he knew he’d plan a surprise.

“I knew that at that very moment, that I was going to come home and just give her the most biggest surprise ever, but I didn’t know it was going to be this big,” he said.

“We have two boxes here and one is something that you really need, L.J. and one is something that Shakir really needs,” Ellen said before handing her the first box.

One is filled with $30,000 in cash and the second are keys to a new Hyundai Sonata.

“We love you, thank you for everything you’re doing for us,” Ellen said.