ESPN Thunder Reporter, Family Turn Twitter Attack Into Teaching Moment

It's not uncommon for people to abuse the freedom that comes with social media. 

But Monday, one Twitter user went too far by targeting ESPN's Thunder reporter Royce Young and his wife, who lost their daughter a few years ago.

Royce and Keri Young lost their daughter Eva Grace back in 2017, when she was stillborn as a result of a rare medical condition called Anencephaly.  But through the devastation, they shared their story as a way to help others, and they brought awareness to the lack of neonatal organ donations in the country.

Early Monday, April 22, one Twitter user preyed on their tragedy, allegedly after Royce tweeted about Russell Westbrook during Sunday night's press conference.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for people to rally around the reporter and his family, reminding people of his true character, and how tender hearted the Young family is.

“The Young’s are wonderful people. I’ve had the opportunity to meet them. Not at great lengths… And I think they represent people who are loving, caring, genuine people who just want to do everything they can for the people who might benefit from their actions,” President and CEO of LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma, Jeffrey Orlowski, said.

The Young family made the decision to carry Eva to term, so that she could give other children a chance at life. Baby Eva's organs were donated, which ultimately built their platform of neonatal organ donation awareness.

The Youngs turned Monday’s moment of cruelty into another opportunity to spread awareness.

Medical professions, alongside the Youngs, agree that the need is great, even though there has been an increase in numbers over the last few years.

“Pediatric patients in this country face a greater hill to climb to get transplanted because you can’t put a larger organ in a small body… and those donations are incredibly precious,” Orlowski said.

Since Monday, the account responsible for the hateful tweet has been deleted. Then, someone else took the name and turned it into a page that supports the Youngs and their cause.

If you’d like to learn more click here and to the Youngs’ full story, click here.