Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill surprises KC frontline healthcare workers with free meals
The line exhausted after 45 minutes, and then these healthcare workers on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic removed cell phones from pockets, huddled in front of Saint Luke’s Hospital and posed for a picture.
“Tyreek!” a few of them shouted. “Come get in here!”
Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill walked to the group, stood front and center and stretched his arms wide.
“I’m smiling,” he said, a white mask covering his face. “You just can’t see it.”
A nurse removed her own mask, handed it to Hill and made an unusual request, one fitting of the times.
She wanted his signature — on the mask.
Hill obliged. And thus, one mask inside the hospital’s neuro-oncology ward now reads: “Cheetah speed.”
Hill spent Thursday morning at the location just off the plaza, handing out 100 meals to medical workers. Nurses and doctors lined up and met the recent Super Bowl champion. Hill wore not only a mask but gloves, giving people elbow bumps rather than handshakes.
“I’m always trying to uplift people,” he said. “I always want to put a smile on people’s faces. That’s the main reason for it. I feel like the time we’re living in now, a lot of people are down; a lot of people are sad. I’m always trying to bring a smile to someone’s face.”
Hill and his foundation partnered with Fuel Cafe, a Kansas City company, to provide the food. They served 100 workers. Fuel Cafe has previously provided prepared meals to workers at other hospitals, too.
The visit with Hill Thursday had been kept a secret inside Saint Luke’s Hospital. Cassandra Stompoly, the unit’s nurse manager, broke the news during a shift meeting earlier in the morning.
“It was very hard to keep it a secret,” Stompoly said. “I knew it was going to be a big deal, so I wanted to make sure they had the same kind of reaction that most people would have to something like this.”
The late reveal prevented them from wearing their favorite Chiefs garb or having football-related items on hand for Hill to sign. So they got creative. Hence the mask.
But a couple of maintenance workers came prepared. After the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, Duane Ferguson had a sign made commemorating an event he wasn’t sure would ever happen. In bold white capital letters on a red background, the sign reads “Super Bowl Champs,” along with the game’s final score — Chiefs 31, 49ers 20.
Ferguson turned it into a magnet and sticks it on the maintenance cart he rolls down the facility’s hallways.
It got a little more awesome Thursday when Hill added his signature to it.
“I might have to get it laminated before I put it back,” Ferguson said, “so nobody smears it.”
Hill told him another title would be coming. He’d have to update his sign. Such lighthearted moments provided a brief break from the reality of a pandemic that has kept people isolated for the better part of two months.
For Hill, too. He said he has developed a daily routine — a morning workout followed by time with his kids.
“It feels amazing just being around people again,” Hill said. “Seeing their smiles and being around laughter, it makes me feel good. I’m always about energy, bringing good energy. It’s fun. I love it.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill surprises KC frontline healthcare workers with free meals."