Charlotte restaurant rallies help for pasta maker paralyzed in Easter accident
Pasta and Provisions assistant pasta maker Thang Sum has been described as a real jokester with eccentric clothes and accessories, such as the sunglasses he wears during work for fun. He doesn’t speak much English, but a language barrier does not stop the happy energy he brings to the workplace, owner Tommy George told CharlotteFive.
Sum is a refugee who left Myanmar in 2019, fleeing from persecution, and found work at the specialty grocery store through the Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency.
Now, a few short years later, his life has turned upside down once again.
On Easter Sunday, Sum broke his neck, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, in an accident while playing with his nieces and nephews on a trampoline. He will need long-term care.
Charlotte steps up
Then George turned to the wider Charlotte community for help for Sum’s recovery, creating a GoFundMe campaign for the man he called an “invaluable member of our team.” George and his wife, Debbie, donated $1,000 to kick it off.
The community answered the call: About $25,000 was collected on the first day alone.
The fundraiser has since reached over $41,000 in donations. “The support from the community has been phenomenal,” George said. All of the money will go toward Sum’s medical bills.
When George visited Sum in the ICU after the accident, he said Sum opened his eyes and, speaking in his native Burmese language, told his brother, Pau, that he was concerned about his job. Pau also used to work for the restaurant.
And of course, Sum is not just an employee, but a beloved member of the store’s family. George assured him that his job would be waiting for him when he is ready.
“When something happens to one of us, everybody is affected,” George said. “My employees know if they need something and it is in my means, I’ll make it happen.
“He’s a great guy and everyone’s missing him.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
