A meeting with former Philadelphia Eagles‘ player Brian Dawkins, which began as a disaster, led to Coatesville’s Ashley Shumba turning his life story into a book, writes Gabriela Carroll for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Shumba, a limo driver, was running 30 minutes late to pick up Dawkins at Philadelphia International Airport when he got lost.
By the time he arrived, an hour had passed since Dawkins’ flight landed.
The ride began awkwardly, with Dawkins tired and frustrated. Shumba was unaware of who he was, having moved to Philadelphia from Africa in 2012 after Dawkins had retired.
But the mood shifted when Dawkins asked about Shumba’s life. So moved by what he heard, he spent an extra hour in the hotel parking lot listening.
Dawkins was most impressed by Shumba’s willingness to help people he meets, whether by giving directions or fixing their cars.
That conversation helped inspire Dreams of a Village Boy: My Journey From Africa to America, the book Shumba wrote with the help of a writer Dawkins connected him to.
“Had I just left my attitude where it was, we would have never had the conversation,” said Dawkins.
Read more about how a chance interaction with former Eagle Brian Dawkins led Ashley Shumba to write a book about his own life in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
______
