On Monday's episode of "Ellen," 20-year-old Ben Hartranft, ambassador to the Eagles Autism Challenge (and whose Philadelphia Eagles fandom is only second to his love of Ellen Degeneres) was invited to appear on the show and given a couple of big surprises.
Hartranft was joined by the former Eagles long snapper and magician Jon Dorenbos, where he was given $10,000 for autism awareness, tickets to Universal Studios, and tickets to any of this season's remaining Eagles games plus field access.
RELATED: Shirley Manson isn't afraid of the dark: empowerment lessons from a music icon
The segment starts with Hartranft and Dorenbos under the impression they are filming something for the EllenTube page. But in her typical style, DeGeneres surprises Hartranft and pulls him up on stage.
You can watch the entire segment below.
"This is amazing," Hartranft said. "I dreamed about this for three years."
On stage, he tells his own story of being diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old and being told he would never speak.
But today, Hartranft works multiple jobs — one as a host at Olive Garden and another as a greeter at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom — and does outreach work for other individuals with autism.
Follow Emily & PhillyVoice on Twitter @emily_rolen | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Emily’s RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.