Exclusive
Browns superstar Myles Garrett just came through big time for a man who was permanently injured during the Black Lives Matter protests in Cleveland … personally reaching out and helping raise money for his recovery.
24-year-old John Sanders was taking pictures of the protests in Downtown CLE on May 30 … when he was shot in the eye with a beanbag.
Sanders lost his left eye and suffered other facial injuries as a result … and a GoFundMe has been set up to help him with hospital bills and other expenses.
Word got to Myles, who called upon his 210k Twitter followers to help out by donating to Sanders’ campaign.
Not only did Garrett spread the word … he personally hit up Sanders to lift his spirits and share some encouragement.
“He was just texting me about how badly he felt about what happened and how he wanted to make a difference in any way he could,” Sanders tells TMZ Sports.
John Sanders was peacefully protesting in Cleveland when he got shot in the eye with a lead pellet filled beanbag. After a couple surgeries, they had to remove his eye. If you can donate, here’s his go fund me (directly from him). https://t.co/wF7RuXzmuM
— Myles Garrett ⚡️ (@MylesLGarrett) June 9, 2020
@MylesLGarrett
Sanders tells us the GoFundMe donations DOUBLED in the days following Garrett’s tweet … with more than $17,300 raised so far.
“It’s wild,” Sanders tells us. “I mean, the whole thing — from being such an extreme living example of police brutality and lack of training to actually having someone in the NFL that is not only probably the best player at their position, but also someone I’ve held in high regards actually reach out to me — is really overwhelming.
“To help me? Never happens to me. I’m overly thankful.”
Sanders says he has a long way to go in recovery … but can’t stress enough how grateful he is to have a dude like Garrett in his corner.
