The owner of Dallas Mavericks was moved by the couple’s tragic setbacks, including miscarriages, a stillborn daughter, and ovarian cancer
Mark Cuban
WATAUGA: The billionaire owner of the basketball team Dallas Mavericks recently made Monica and Leroy Wilkinson’s dream come true, paying for the couple’s wedding last month. Cuban offered to help after learning of the couple’s devastating setbacks, which include multiple miscarriages, a stillborn daughter, and, in January, Monica’s diagnosis with stage 4 ovarian cancer.
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Cuban’s assistant called the duo, offering to help pay for the wedding
“It just was seeming like every dream we had was just completely out of reach for everything,” Monica told said, reflecting on how their struggles had wiped out their finances. Charity organisations were unable to help cover the cost of their nuptials, either.
Married at last: Monica and Leory Wilkinson tied the knot in April
But at the last minute, Monica says she got a phone call out of the blue from Mark Cuban’s assistant, saying he’d help pay for their wedding. “I was completely floored,” Monica told the station. “I thought it was a joke.”
No joke, the two were finally married in April, and they have a message for Cuban: Thank you. “I got to feel special and it was all thanks to Mark Cuban,” says Monica, who added now she has “a reason to smile.”
The generous act is only the latest in a long line of donations by Cuban. Last week, he sent a sizable check to a volunteer fire department that had run into some tough times. In 2012, after the NBA fined Cuban $75,000 for critical comments he made about officiating in the league, he matched the fine with a $75,000 donation to a group that fights children’s cancer.