Ellen DeGeneres is returning one good samaritan's act of kindness.
During Wednesday's at-home episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the daytime talk show host virtually connected with FedEx delivery driver Justin Bradshaw, who went viral in the wake of the pandemic after sanitizing a package after learning that someone in the recipient's house had an auto-immune disorder and was at risk of contracting the coronavirus, and delivered a surprise of her own.
As Ellen caught up with Justin and his wife Yasmin, it became clear that his careful consideration was second nature. "As I approach the door, I saw a big red stop sign on the note and it alerted me that someone inside was high risk and immediately. I thought about my daughter Nova, who's actually micro-preemie and was actually born a little over one pound." Chiming in, Yasmin added, "And having a high-risk child of our own, he was basically doing what he does on a daily day-to-day basis. They just caught it on camera this time."
While discussing Justin's social media fame, he said, "Well to me, it was something that I was doing out of the heart, like, that's something that I do on the regular. So, to me, it didn't seem as big as how everyone took it, you know, because this is something I do and I understand what's going on because of my daughter."
In fact, he admitted that he wasn't too keen on having the video live on social media, but his wife's persistence helped him see the impact it was making.
"I shared it on Facebook because he didn't want anybody to know what he had done," Yasmin said. "So, we kind of got into an argument because he was like, ‘Why did you share it?' I'm like, ‘Okay, do you want me to take it down?' And he's like, ‘Actually, yeah I do.' I was like, ‘Well, that's not gonna happen. People need to see, especially in times like this, people need to see that there's still nice people in the world.'"
Touched by their story, Ellen wanted to give Justin a special thank you for the kindness he showed to his community with a surprise delivery. She gifted the couple $20,000 and invited them to be guests on her show once the pandemic is over.
Speechless and fighting back tears, the couple thanked Ellen for her generosity. Earlier in the episode, Yasmin gushed, "Thank you, Ellen. You set the tone in the world. Like, you give humanity that extra hope. Thank you for being you."
Watch Ellen surprise Justin and Yasmin in the heartwarming video above!