Only on 19: Son of Ronald Dumas Jr. gets special birthday surprise
HUNTSVILLE, Ala (WHNT) — For the past 6 months, when you've heard the name 'Dumas,' it's been about the abducted Huntsville realtor who is still missing, but Wednesday night, it was all about his son, Kai, who turned 13 years.
As Kai walked out of the Lego store, he heard a loud combination of horns honking, police sirens, and engines revving.
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'At first, I'm thinking, 'What is this?' that's when everyone yelled surprise,' Kai Dumas said. 'I'm like, 'Wait a minute, did I pass out?''
It's no secret Kaia and his siblings have had a hard year since their father went missing and is yet to be found, but that shouldn't stop the celebration he deserves.
'They don't deserve the situation they've been put into,' said James Andrews. Andrews is the Dumas family's private investigator.
'Some bad people put Ronnie and his family in a bad situation and the kids are having to pay for it,' he said. 'So, anything that we can do to help them at least find a few moments of happiness this summer…we're trying to do that.'
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Because Kai is a car lover, his mom Shakeria s=Samples, wanted to come up with a special way to surprise him, so she invited anyone in the community with a sweet ride to roll up and rev their engines to celebrate Kai's13th.
'It was even better than I could have envisioned,' she said. 'I pictured you know, just a few cars and him walking up, but it was amazing.'
Friends, police officers, and even strangers lined the parking lot.
'I saw the post for Kai's birthday,' Delvin Cooper said. He brought one of the cars to the show today.
'I myself am a new dad, and I had followed the story in terms of what had happened to his father,' he said. 'What happened to Kai is not his fault. It's still nevertheless important for him to have a great day. A kid's birthday without a dad being there death definitely is a deep void, so if I can contribute some love, that makes me happy, and I hope that makes him happy too.'
Samples said that while it won't replace the feeling of having his father there, it will remind Kai that the community has his family's back in the meantime.
'I just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts,' she said. 'We appreciate you all so much.'
It is safe to say it was a 13th birthday Kai will never forget, and the family said it wouldn't have been possible without the generosity of the community.
If you would like to continue helping this family, they have a Gofundme. The fundraiser is run by James Andrews, and he says 100% of the proceeds go towards the kids.
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