Tyler Perry has a habit of lending a helping hand to the community. The film mogul performed his latest heroic effort by reaching out to an Atlanta couple who were stuck in Mexico because they couldn't pay their hospital bill.
According to NBC News, Tori Austin and her fiancée, Stephen Johnson, were on a cruise ship when Johnson became seriously ill. After being rushed to a private hospital in Progreso, Mexico, Johnson was diagnosed with pancreatitis, diabetes and a kidney infection that required dialysis.
The couple then received a $14,000 medical bill after doctors performed the medical procedure. When they tried to leave the hospital, thinking they would be billed later, the couple learned that they weren't allowed to leave until they made the payment.
"We don't have $14,000 right away. So we offered to pay some, to even do a promissory note. But the administrator lady here said absolutely not," the couple told WSB-TV.
While Austin communicated with Johnson's sister to make a GoFundMe page to cover the expenses, Perry heard the couple's story on the news and sent a payment to cover the cost.
Austin said the filmmaker also offered to cover the couple's travel expenses to return to the U.S.
"I am so thankful for him," Austin told NBC News.
Earlier this year, Perry reached out to another Black family in need. The actor covered the rent for four children, including two minors, who were in danger of being evicted after their mother was shot and killed.
Audrey Turner, one of the children of Tynesha Evans, said the Hollywood star contacted her and offered to pay the rent, as well as the funeral expenses for their mother.
"It was a call I wasn't even going to answer," Turner told WSB-TV in March. "I said, 'Well, let me answer it to see who it is.' I answered and the person on the other end said, 'This is Tyler.' I said, 'Who?' He said, 'This is Tyler.' I said, 'Tyler who?' and he said, 'Tyler Perry.' At that point, I just broke down crying."
Last month, the actor revealed plans to build a compound in his Atlanta studio that would help homeless women, displaced LGBTQ youth and human trafficking victims.
"I'll tell you what I'm most excited about next is pulling this next phase off, is building a compound for trafficked women, girls, homeless women, LGBTQ youth who are put out and displaced … somewhere on these 330 acres, where they're trained in the business and they become self-sufficient,” the filmmaker told Gayle King on CBS.
Perry, who officially opened his studio in October, said he is especially proud because his studio sits on what used to be a Confederate Army base.
"Think about the poetic justice in that," he said. "The Confederate Army is fighting to keep Negroes enslaved in America, fighting, strategy, planning on this very ground. And now this very ground is owned by me."
People reports Johnson currently has ulcers that require treatment before the couple can leave the hospital and return home.
