TOMS RIVER – Imagine you’re in school. You’re walking to your next class when all of a sudden your favorite celebrity shows up to surprise you.
A dream come true! Seems impossible, right?
Well, not for Kallista Flores. While he is in town for a bit of show-biz, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay took a detour to a Toms River school to meet Kallista, a Toms River local and Ramsay super fan.
The surprise was orchestrated by her father, Wolf Flores, and documented via Facebook live on his social media page. Flores shared a post to social media earlier this week, hoping to garner enough attention to nab a meet and greet with the famous chef for his daughter.
The post read: “she is freaking out because he is in town filming. She is a HUGE fan! Obsessed is more like it! Please keep sharing this until she meets him. She wanted to use her Make A Wish to meet him. Please help this message find a way to Gordon Ramsay! She is a great kid and Gordon Ramsay is her idol! She’d even be happy with a phone call from him. Her room has a cardboard cut out of Gordon…she LOVES him. Please help a little girl with cancer get her wish!”
In the post, a photo shows 12-year old Kallista rocking her short pixie cut with blond on top, somewhat mirroring Ramsay’s own signature cut, holding a sign that says “Cancer Can Suck It.”
Less than 24 hours after the post went up, Flores stood next to Ramsay at Kallista’s school, preparing the surprise of her life.
[adrotate banner="278"]“This fine individual right here is actually at my daughter’s school,” began Flores, standing next to Ramsay in the video.
“To be here in Toms River in between shoots…I’m just absolutely panicking,” said Ramsay, joking about his own poor performance record at school as a kid. Ramsay is currently in Toms River filming an episode of his show “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back” at Caneda’s White Rooster.
“I can’t wait to meet her,” he added.
Flores provided Ramsay with a little bit of background on Kallista’s illness, stating that she was diagnosed last May and now has one year of treatment left to go.
Moments before Kallista came through the door, her father noted “There’s going to be a lot of tears.”
His prediction was right. As Kallista rounded the corner and saw Ramsay, she tossed her belongings to the ground and broke into sobs of pure excitement and surprise before running straight to Ramsay for a big hug.
“When I see strong girls like you, having three of my own…you inspire me,” Ramsay told her.
Between happy tears and jokes about music class, Ramsay managed to make the surprise even better with some macaroons, cake, and cupcakes. Although, he admitted he did not make them himself.
[adrotate banner="277"]Flores added that watching Ramsay’s shows “got her through her cancer treatment.”
“That’s all she did the whole four months she was in the hospital, we watched cooking show after cooking show,” he added.
The pair shared a macaroon and Ramsay provided Kallista with a bit of inspirational advice: “You are a strong winner, remember that,” he said.
Ramsay left off with a promise to keep in touch. Kallista responded “Yes please.”
