Most of you might measure Robert Horry’s impact through his clutch shots or his seven NBA championships, which he won during his 16-year stint in the NBA. However, the former San Antonio Spurs star’s greatness goes way beyond the basketball court. And it started with the tragic death of his daughter Ashlyn, who passed away aged just 17.

Horry and his ex-wife Keva’s daughter was born with 1p36 deletion syndrome, which is a rare genetic disorder that causes intellectual disabilities due to a deletion of genetic material in chromosome 1. The condition is most common in females and can result in distinct facial features, limited muscle tone, and seizures, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Although some people suffering from the 1p36 can live into early adulthood, most die in childhood. But Ashyln was a fighter as she lived until she was 17 from 1994 to 2011. During most of those early years the medical bills, which were quite huge were covered by the NBA, given that Robert Horry was still playing. However, after that, things became tricky for Horry and his family.

“The story started when you leave the NBA. It’s all about what kind of insurance plan you had, and then my daughter who passed away and but it was hard to get insurance for her because of Obamacare,” Horry recently said on the Dan Patrick Show. “Then was finally able to get insurance for her and they kind of heard my story on how I was frustrated with the insurance and how it wasn’t working for me.”

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Once he retired, Horry initially went to COBRA, which is insurance coverage for people changing jobs. X-rays even back then cost a fortune. That’s when he understood that even if someone might have a good insurance, let’s say like a 90/10 split, they might end up paying a lot simply because of how massive some of the medical bills were. Luckily, it was then that he met a couple of guys who were trying to change the insurance game.

“I met Matt and Chris and so we were talking he was like man you should join us,” he said. “Our mission is to try to change healthcare as a whole and to try to do different things for not just businesses but for people in rural areas and that what excited me about it because I wanted to like go to the rural areas. Because that’s where I’m from, to let them understand the insurance is here for you.”

Sure enough, Robert Horry then joined SureCo, a company that facilitates the administration of individualized health plans through ICHRA to help millions of other parents, who aren’t as fortunate as he to be covered by the NBA. Now, after sitting down with the company’s founders several years ago, Horry has slowly become accustomed to the nooks and crannies of the health industry.

So much so that recently, he was formally unveiled as chief impact officer at the company. He continues to let families all across the country know that their options out there are so they can take autonomy in their own lives, as he continues to urge people to take insurance plans that benefit them. Meanwhile, he also continues to remember his beloved daughter, Ashyln.

Robert Horry recalls the time when a random fan sent his sick daughter a surprise package

While former NBA star Robert Horry’s daughter Ashyln is no longer among us, his father make sures to remember her from time to time through stories such as the one which occurred during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. The seven-time NBA champion recalled how he hit an elderly fan after he fell out of bounds and into the sidelines of the Staples Center.

Horry said that the fan he landed upon was a lady in her sixties sitting courtside. After he apologized to her, the two became acquaintances, greeting each other during the home games. Then one day, the fan pulled her aside and ended up doing something special for his late daughter.

“One day she pulls me and says, ‘Baby, don’t you have a sick daughter at home?’” recalled Horry. “I’m like, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ and she’s like, ‘I want to send you something. May I have your address?’ I said ‘Sure,’ you know, cuz she’s sitting on the sideline, she can’t be anybody crazy.”

Sure enough, she wasn’t crazy. On the contrary, she seemingly was the former Disney executive, Frankil Wells, who died in a helicopter crash, better half, Luane Cosgrave. And she did keep her promise as over the summer she sent a box full of Disney goodies over at Robert Horry’s place, who at first thought it was a PR package from Nike, as he was representing them.

As it turned out later, it was the random fan with whom he made friends on the sidelines. Robert Horry wasn’t nice to everyone on the sidelines, just ask former Phoenix Suns head coach Danny Ainge, at whom he threw a towel during one of the games. But he was to the old lady, who turned out be an angel for him and his daughter before she sadly passed away.