Mendeecees Harris is being praised as a “Christmas angel” by the family of 17-year-old Ian Maman after the “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” star assisted him to safety from a hit-and-run accident on Christmas Eve.
Mendeecees was out finishing up some last-minute Christmas shopping in Marietta, Georgia when he noticed an accident four cars ahead of him.
Ian was driving a Hyundai Elantra northbound on I-75 near Delk Road en route to a friend’s house when he was struck from behind by a white pickup truck, causing the Elantra to collide with other vehicles, bounce off the median wall, and spiral on the road.
The accident happened around 7 PM EST.
Ian said after being hit multiple times he saw a random guy approaching his car.
I saw it drifting a bit and saw that he was about to hit me, so I started honking at him and then one second later I remember I started spinning and got hit from the back and front.
Each time I got hit, I remember thinking, ‘When is it going to end?’ I just saw some random guy approaching my car, and I kicked the door open because it wasn’t getting open.
At first, I thought he hit my car, so I asked him if he was ok, then I realized he didn’t hit me. Then that’s when he asked if I was ok. He called my parents and 911 on his phone because I lost my phone during the accident. I had no clue who he was. He was really nice.
That random guy was Mendeecees Harris who said he witnessed the car bounce off the median wall and get hit from the front to the back, and when he saw the driver was a teenager he immediately thought of his son, who is also 17 and a young driver.
It started to spiral out of control, and it hit the wall and bounced off the wall and went right back in the middle of traffic.
At the time, I immediately started slowing down to avoid a collision.
As he’s spinning, he got hit from the back of the car to the front, they were just hitting him all over, so when he pulled over to the shoulder, I had time to pull over.
I got a little past him, but I pulled over, but my first instinct is that someone could be stuck in the car, the car could blow up and just try to help them get out of the car as soon as possible.
When I saw it was a teenager, a young man, the first thing that came to mind was that could’ve been my son.
I would hope that if he got in an accident, someone would pull over and possibly save his life but whether it is a teenager or adult, if you can save a life, why not help?
I just felt like that was the right thing to do. I was happy that it wasn’t as bad as it looked, so most of the damage went to the car and not the person. It was Christmas Eve, and I didn’t think that anybody should be getting the bad news that their kid or significant other was in an accident and in the hospital.
Mendeecees, fearing the car could explode, assisted Maman out of the vehicle expeditiously.
Ian was visibly shaken, and Mendeecees stayed with him until the police arrived.
When the police arrived, Mendeecees was told to leave the scene.
Ian suffered some neck pain and cuts on his hands from the airbags as a result of the accident.
He was treated by ambulance personnel and reunited with his parents.
Debbie Diamond, Ian’s mother, said she is forever grateful to Mendeecees, and she praised him as a Christmas angel.
We’re just very thankful. I feel like there were angels around this child. I really feel like Mendeecees was one of those angels. He stopped and he helped him. I mean, it was Christmas Eve. I’m sure he was busy trying to get to his family, but he did the right thing. As a parent, I will be forever grateful to him.
After doing some research online, Debbie discovered that Mendeecees starred in the popular VH1 reality series “Love & Hip Hop.”
She said she is happy that someone of his caliber took the time out of his busy schedule to help her son, and she called Mendeecees Harris a “righteous, good, kind, thoughtful human being.”
In Judaism, we use the word ‘mensch,’ and it’s like a righteous, good, kind, thoughtful human being.
And that’s Mendeecees. It’s ironic that we’re calling it a Christmas miracle because we’re Jewish, but it really was a Christmas miracle.
Ian said he views a lot of things differently since the accident.
It changed me a little bit. I view a lot of things differently now.
Life is just so precious. You never know when it’s going to end or when it can end.
Chuck McPhilamy, a public information officer from the Marietta Police Department, said on Friday (January 6) the accident is still under investigation.
Mendeecees Harris and his wife Yandy shared the story on Instagram:
Yandy expressed her love and appreciation for Mendeecees in the comments:
It’s crazy because when you read the whole article and you talk about our big boy and how that could have been him so you felt like you just hope someone would do it for him…I got chills through my whole body.
We need more of you in the world. This is the side of you I wish the world knew. Im about to post the whole article. You were a true angel putting yourself in danger.
Many people in this world want to only help based off race, creed, religion affiliation…none of that mattered to you. And that’s what humanity is all about. Love you.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the convo on our socials. (Facebook, Instagram).
Source: The Atlanta Journal Constitution
