A Ukrainian teenager with down syndrome recently met his idol, WWE star and actor John Cena, after his mother used a fantasy of meeting him to motivate him to flee the war-torn Ukraine's town of Mariupol.
Misha Rohozhyn, 19, is unable to speak, and did not understand why his family had to flee the country. To placate him, his mother Liana Rohozhyna repeatedly told him that they were constantly on the move to find John Cena. In reality, however, the family was fleeing a Russian siege on their hometown, Mariupol.
John Cena's posters had covered an entire wall of Misha’s room in the family apartment now destroyed by bombing, Wall Street Journal reported.
The publication also stated that earlier in May, while still on the move, Misha had buried his head in a pillow and cried because Cena had not yet shown up.
When Cena read the report, he went to Amsterdam to meet Misha.
"When I read about Misha's story, it reached out to me. Not just Misha's story, but also that of his mom... It turned immediately to 'We're going'," Cena said.
Recollecting the day spent with Misha, the wrestling star said, "It was a special afternoon." He also gifted the teen fan a special t-shirt, cap and a WWE belt and the two shared a Ukrainian honey cake.
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