Hours after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stopped by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Dwyane Wade showed up to surprise the Parkland students with a visit of his own.
The Miami Heat star arrived at the Florida high school around lunchtime on Wednesday and offered up some words of encouragement to all the survivors of the shooting.
“You guys have been amazing from afar, and I just wanted to come and say I’m inspired by all of you,” he said during a brief speech in the cafeteria. “As someone out here in the public eye I’m proud to say I’m from this state. Because of you guys and because of the future of this world because of you guys. I just say thank you, man.”
Wade also tweeted about the uplifting experience he had at the school. “I just had a great conversation with some of the students at Stoneman Douglas High School about some important/impactful things that they have planned,” he wrote. “I’m looking forward to being more involved in the change that they WILL create.”
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Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com