Windsor boy gets surprise of a lifetime from local TikTok star

A 10-year-old Windsor boy who recently lost his father and grandmother got a surprise visit and special gift from Windsor’s most popular social media influencer, Zachery Dereniowski.

The interaction was filmed over a few days and posted to social media under Dereniowski’s online moniker, MD Motivator.

In one of the videos, he meets with Dougie Hannan, whose father passed away in August and then his grandmother in December.

“When my dad passed, we didn’t get that much money,” said Dougie.

“You lost your dad recently?” asked Dereniowski.

“Yea, and my grandma. It’s just a normal occasion, everybody dies sometimes.”

Dereniowski was touched by Dougie’s story and surprised him with a new basketball, a basketball net, tickets to a Detroit Pistons game and $500 cash.

“My dream is to be like a basketball player,” said Dougie before seeing the gifts.

Dougie told Dereniowski that he’s going to give the $500 to his mom so the family can buy groceries.

But the 10-year-old doesn’t have a passport and couldn’t accept the tickets for the Pistons game.

A week later Dereniowski showed up at Dougie’s school with an even bigger surprise.

“What would you do if i told you your mom doesn’t have to buy groceries for 3 years?” he said in the video, which has been viewed online more than 25 million times.

Dereniowski handed him a letter with $30,000 which he crowd-funded from strangers on Go-Fund-Me.

But it didn’t stop there.

“Open this, you ever been on a plane before?” Dereniowski asks Dougie, which which he responds no. “You’re flying tomorrow to Toronto!”

Dougie, along with his mom and Dereniowski, flew to Toronto shortly after, to watch the game, meet players beforehand and get a signed basketball.

Dougie soaked the moment in, quipping “This is the best day ever!”

After the video went viral, Dougie became an overnight celebrity at his grade school.

Despite his recent struggles, he’s grateful his story is helping others.

“It makes me happy because I'm putting smiles on people's faces,” Dougie said. “I'm making them feel like I'm there helping them through like if they have troubled times.”

And Derenioswki is just happy his videos promote kindness, get a conversation going between people about what hurts in life and inspire others to take action.

“To make it a better experience to share is beyond meaningful,” Dereniowski said. “It's more important than the money and just as important as the experience that he had going to Toronto that day.”