Lil Wayne spreads Christmas cheer with charity trip to Haiti

Rapper Lil Wayne helped to spread a little Christmas cheer in Haiti over the weekend (18-20Dec15) by joining boxer Andre Berto to hand out gifts for children in need.

The sportsman, who is of Haitian descent, dressed up as Santa as he and Wayne visited a school on Friday (18Dec15) to distribute toys, books and clothing from the Lollipop hitmaker's own Trukfit fashion brand to 500 students.

The charity event was organised by hip-hop blogger and activist Karen Civil, and Wayne was happy to be involved.

"A lot of people tend to forget about those who are less fortunate during the holiday season, not many understand how receiving just one item could bring so much joy to a child's life, especially if they don't have the same everyday luxuries that the more fortunate tend to overlook," Wayne explains to KarenCivil.com. "I'm just grateful to be able to give back to Haiti in any way possible."

The rapper made the journey a month after he underwent shoulder surgery. At the time, he took to Twitter.com to keep fans updated after the operation, as well as to thank the medics who looked after him.

"Much luv 2 Dr. Kaplan & his team at Univ (university) of Miami hospital for a successful surgery," Lil Wayne tweeted. "and dey (they) had me on the tunes during surgery... dope!"

Reports suggest the Lollipop hitmaker picked up the injury while skateboarding. He suffered a shoulder injury in 2012, while trying to perform "an ollie" while skateboarding.

It wasn't the first health scare Wayne has experienced, as the rapper suffers from epilepsy.

In fact Wayne was repeatedly struck down by seizures in 2013, but he never allows the medical condition to get him down.

"I don't remember anything about the experience," he told NYLON Guys magazine of coping with multiple seizures two years ago. "I don't mean to sound bad, but it wasn't no life-changing thing. I shot myself when I was 12. I grew up in Hollygrove [area of New Orleans]. I've seen way worse."