It’s never too late to make a request to Santa, even in January.
Last holiday season, Evans Kamuru lost his two front teeth. In a video that Kamuru recorded in January, he sang his request for Santa—“all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” This Christmas, his wish was granted, although not by Santa, but by family, friends, and his community in Olathe, Kansas.
While wrapping Christmas present last year, the father of three was to be the “Santa” for his children. However, something unexpected happened while he used his teeth to cut the tape.
“And as I was doing it, I felt something literally fly out of my mouth. Right on the carpet was my right upper front tooth.” Kamuru told Fox 4 KC.
To make things worse, about a week later, he lost his left upper front tooth too, while enjoying some waffles.
Kamuru didn’t think it was a big deal at first. However, when he visited his dentist and found out the cost and time of dental implant, he realized he wasn’t getting one done anytime soon.
In addition to two daughters, Kamuru and his wife also have to support their autistic son. Caring for 5-year-old Zeke was more important than getting a dental implant for Kamuru. He made do with a plastic dental flipper.
Unknown to Kamuru, early this December, his friends and family were trying to raise $15,000 within a week. They shared in a “WhatsApp” group the video of his request to Santa, and the financial and logistical burden the family carries because of Zeke’s autism. Over 300 families, friends, and well-wishers received the news and donated generously.
Gift Giving
At a Christmas dinner, Kamuru was asked by a friend to assist in a magic trick, which required his false teeth. Despite his reluctance to let everyone in the audience know his teeth were missing, Kamuru agreed.
To Kamuru’s surprise, he and his son were presented with a $14,550 check at the end of the magic show. Even more donations came after the check, so the goal, to fund $8,000 for Kamuru’s dental implant, and $7,000 for Zeke’s care and therapy, was not only met, but surpassed.
Kamuru was very touched by the care shown by his church community.
“Just to think that they went out of their way to do this for us is very touching and humbling.” Kamuru said to Fox 4 KC.
This wasn’t the end of it. Dr. Phillip Gordon of “Gordon Dental of Leawood” also gave Kamuru an over $5000 discount for his dental implant, reducing his out-of-pocket responsibility by more than 70 percent. This Christmas, not only was Kamuru getting his wish granted, but his family’s urgent financial needs were met, and Zeke’s care reserve got funded as well.
After telling his story in his long post on Facebook, Kamuru gave three reasons for sharing his experience—“to give God the glory; to honor the multitude of family, friends, and well-wishers; and to encourage someone.”
Accompanying the three reasons was Kamuru’s detailed explanation for them. Kamuru wrote substantially more for his third point, explaining that he hopes social media users realize that people share the highlights and positives of their lives on the platform, not the sufferings they’re going through. Therefore, he hopes people don’t feel alone when going through trials in life.
The reactions to Kamuru’s post were incredibly positive.
“Aww how amazing! Thanks for sharing your story, I’m touched. You’ve been a blessing hard to tell you were dealing with all that while blessing others at their events. May God enlarge your territories even more.” Facebook user Grace Mwangi replied.
“I rejoice with you my brother. You have planted seed in people’s lives for many years. I truly believe you are a good ground for people to plant their seed. Blessings!” Facebook user Ben Njoro replied.
The dental implant process is a long one taking over eight months, and Kamuru is posting updates on his Facebook page about his story. In his most recent post at the time of this writing, he wished everyone a Merry Christmas and compiled photos of various media reports of his story, thanking people who helped his family by letting them know the reach of their kindness.
