5 days Ago By Yahoo Lifestyle
was left “overwhelmed and emotional” after an unexpected moment during her Saturday at Big W Penrith. The radio host spent six hours meeting thousands of fans but had to briefly pause the event after a 20-year-old fan named Ziad approached her with his family. In a video shared to Instagram page, Jackie explained that she first met Ziad when he was 12 years old and his family couldn’t afford to pay for the life-saving surgery he desperately needed, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Kyle and Jackie O welcomed Ziad onto their show back in 2016, made a substantial donation to his GoFundMe and urged their listeners to also spare anything they could. Within 10 minutes of Ziad and his family appearing the show, over $150,000 had been raised in order to pay for the surgery. In her memoir , Jackie wrote about how Ziad’s story “never left her” and she often wondered how he was these days – but she had no idea he was attending her book signing over the weekend.
The reunion was caught on camera, with Jackie embracing the family, with Ziad's mums saying she had 'tingles' reading the impact the family had on Jackie's life and vice versa. "The power of their community and platform is why my boy is standing here right now," Ziad's mum said. "Just seeing him today, he's grown up and he's happy and healthy and thriving and living such a great life, and knowing that all our listeners came together to make that happen was really beautiful," Jackie said upon reuniting with Ziad.
On Instagram, sent a heartfelt thanks to all the fans who showed up to her book signing, saying she was "blown away" by how many people showed up. "I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who came to my book signing today. I was truly blown away by how many of you showed up and waited so patiently, many of you for over four hours! Not a single complaint, just kindness and warmth from every one of you," she wrote.
"Your support means more to me than I can express, feeling deeply humbled and grateful. Thank you.".
