SPOKANE, Wash. – After hectic days full of medical emergencies and appointments, one family in need of a car for travel to and from Seattle received the best possible New Year’s gift Tuesday from a local car dealership whose owner has a big heart.
“Best way to start the new year, we’re glad we could bless them,” Northtown Auto Sales General Manager Nick Arotta said.
Without any hesitation, Nick Arotta knew that he and his team were in the right position to help three-year-old Sophia Evans and her mom Kelly Cunningham.
“We’re glad that we were just able to help a family that needed it,” he said.
At only three years old, Sophia has already undergone two liver transplants. When she was an infant, her skin was bright yellow, itchy all over.
When NonStop Local KHQ first met Sophia and her mother, we learned of their need of a car to get to and from Seattle for the little girl’s routine medical check-ups every month; this came after the family’s previous car was involved in a crash.
If you recall, Arotta’s dealership also took a huge hit in the fall, when a group of thieves rappelled through the dealership’s roof overnight, stole the keys to eight cars in the lot and drove them away. Fortunately, the cars were later recovered by Spokane Police.
Today, both parties are doing much better. Months after her second liver transplant, Sophia is healthier and happier. And thanks to Arotta and the Northtown Auto Sales team, her mom is finally able to check one thing off the to-do list.
“It feels amazing to know that you can rely on people so strongly for things like that, and to just have such a strong backing of people who understand where you’re coming from,” Kelly Cunningham said.
After weeks of communication and hard work, Arotta donated a used Lexus RX300, in good condition with all-wheel drive (just what Cunningham was looking for to get across the mountain passes) for Sophia and her family to use for commuting to Seattle.
Arotta did this, simply, out of the goodness of his heart.
“Having a three-year-old is hard without health issues, let alone what she’s had to go through,” he said. “So, I’m happy we could help.”
Sophia wiggled her hands and arms in excitement Tuesday afternoon, in her mother’s arms.
“It’s going to make getting to and from Seattle so much easier, and now we don’t have to spend money on a rental car anymore,” Cunningham said.
A fresh start to a new year.
“It’s just going to make our life in general a lot more satisfactory, a lot more calm,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham and Sophia plan on making a trip across the state, in their new family car, later this week.
