Text Message Sent to Stranger Leads to Charitable Donations for Hospitalized 4-Year-Old Boy
A text message accidentally sent to a stranger inspired him to help the family of a young boy fighting for his life.
Four-year-old Noah Jakeman of Arizona was admitted to the ICU at Phoenix Children’s Hospital with respiratory failure and placed on life support last week after he experienced a seizure, according to ABC 15. His parents, Alex and Shaun Jakeman, have been by his side ever since.
Noah has been diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy called Lennox Gasteau Syndrome, reports ABC 15. He also has autism, abnormal brain development and brittle bones and is unable to walk independently.
To help his family, their friend, Abby Fink, sent a text message to Shaun offering to drop off some food — but the message went to the wrong person.
“Hey brother Jakeman, this is sister Fink, we are bringing you dinner tomorrow I was wondering what time would be a good time to bring it over,” Fink wrote in her text meant for Shaun, which went to a different phone number due to one wrong digit.
Instead the message reached a man named Bill, who thought he’d joke around with the stranger.
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“Oh what are you bringing me, I don’t like seafood,” he wrote back.
The response left Fink confused, but when she realized she had the wrong person, she explained that it was meant for a family whose child was in the ICU.
That’s when Bill — who didn’t give his last name to the news outlet — realized the seriousness of the situation and felt compelled to help out. While Fink suggested that he pray for Noah, Bill wanted to do more than that, and quickly began raising money within his network of friends on Facebook. He also asked them to donate cards and gifts so that Noah could see the support from the community when he woke up.
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“All we have is each other, so it’s our job to look out for each other,” Bill told ABC 15. “[The situation] made me realize that no matter how hard that can be, I’m super lucky… My biggest reward for this is having an opportunity to teach my son the lesson of charity.”
The inspiring act of kindness left Fink and Alex in awe.
“I told him he was an angel,” Fink said of Bill. “Sent to help this sweet family.”
“It’s amazing,” Alex added. “He is a total stranger and he just wanted to jump into action.”
Support for Noah’s family can be made via GoFundMe, where more than $11,000 has been raised so far.
