KANSAS CITY, Mo — A surprise from the Royals on the field reached one of their biggest fan’s in a hospital bed on Wednesday.
Police say two men shot Jimmy Faseler last Friday night when he walked into his Independence home being burglarized. Once the Royals community heard about it, they hit the ground running with a plan to get him back on his feet.
“Jimmy, what’s up man? Just on behalf of the Kansas City Royals… we heard what happened, we want to wish you a speedy recovery, and we can’t wait to see you out at the K,” Royals first basement Eric Hosmer said in the video.
News of the shooting spread fast, and when people in Kansas City started to realize who the victim was– social media blew up.
“When a guy like Jimmy is in trouble… we want to try to step out and help him out,” friend Chris Kamler said.
Kamler is a fellow superfan and met Faseler out on the field, like thousands, after a video of him dancing at Kauffman Stadium went viral.
“He became known to the Kansas City and the world, dancing and whatever, but once you get to know the guy… completely pure of heart, completely generous,” Kamler said.
It’s his heart that Kamler says has pushed hundreds to get out their wallets and have donated more than $11,600, a number that’s climbing every single hour.
“He didn’t probably have two quarters to rub together, so that’s where Dave and I immediately started go towards… sent out an email chain, is there anything we can do to help him?” Kamler said.
Kamler and other fans in the Royals community started hashtag: #BounceBackJimmy, which began to trend. Tweets came from people all over the country, telling him they need him to bounce back in time for Opening Day.
“This is a guy that kind of helped start this, and we want him back there as quickly as possible,” Kamler said.
For more information on Faseler and a link to his GoFundMe page, head to this link.