Father’s Day surprise touches hearts across the country

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- A son surprises his dad suffering from Alzheimer’s with College World Series Tickets to see the Diamond Dawgs in action.

The video has been shared thousands of times on social media and it’s touching the hearts of people across the nation.

The video shows the heartwarming surprise as Matt Lea surprises his family at their Flowood, Mississippi home.

“Mississippi State made the world series I thought I’d come up and we’d watch it together,” Lea says in the video.

Matt drove 12 hours from Florida to surprise his dad in Flowood, who is battling Alzheimer’s.

Switching out his Ole Miss cap and now geared up with Mississippi State attire, the surprise got even better.

“How about we go to Omaha,” Lea said in the video. “Do you want to go up to Omaha and watch the College World Series together?” Lea asked his father.

Lea’s father is overcome with emotion.

Matt took to twitter saying his dad is on his final leg with the disease that affects 5.7 million other Americans.

Early Thursday the father and son started on what’s surely to be an unforgettable journey, the road to Omaha.

“Let’s go,” said Lea’s father in the video.

The video has been racked up over 300,000 views on Twitter.

Matt says he’s gotten dozens of messages from those hoping the two have an amazing trip.

“Thanks for all the support, comments, stories everyone is sharing. It’s great this is touching the hearts of so many people,” Lea said in the video.

It’s even touching the teams heart. The team tweeted, “Your story has already inspired many in a short time, we can’t wait to see you in Omaha.”

Lea says several people have offered to pitch in and pay for meals and their hotel.

He’s asking instead for folks to donate to the Alzheimer’s fund.