Smiling from ear to ear, Lady Antebellum fan Connor Thompson watched over the weekend from his hospital bed as the country music group fulfilled his wish.
That wish — having the band give the 22-year-old with spastic quadriplegia a shoutout — was submitted in a video request by North Little Rock police officer Tommy Norman on his Instagram account.
Recently, Thompson's health has worsened, causing him to be in and out of the hospital, Norman said.
In the video posted Thursday, Norman called on his more than 1 million followers to tag Lady Antebellum in the hopes of the band replying to his friend of four years.
"He's the real hero," Norman told Arkansas Online on Monday. "Just the fact that he's been through so much, really a lot more than a lot of people. He still manages to put a smile on."
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The followers came through. More than 3,000 of them had tagged the band within 24 hours, aiming to make Thompson’s Christmas a little brighter, he said.
A day after Norman posted the video, the three members of Lady Antebellum — Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood — replied with their own Instagram video.
“We got your message from your really close friend who obviously loves you so much. You are an inspiration to us,” Scott said in the video before members sang a rendition of “Holly Jolly Christmas."
Thompson's mother said that she hadn't seen Thompson that happy in a while, the officer noted. Norman added that Lady Antebellum's reply was "an inspirational moment for his family."