An amazing act of kindness by a stranger has stunned a Wandiligong family.
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Gail Bennett and daughter Emma have been raising money to fund treatment in India for Emma, who has multiple sclerosis.
The pair shared their story with Border Mail readers in a quest to help raise some of the $45,000 needed for Emma to receive life-changing stem cell treatment.
Emma is not able to seek hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Australia but in those countries where it is available to sufferers of MS, it has been found to have remarkable results.
Support for the family has been strong. But they could never have expected the generosity of one Border Mail reader that was to come their way.
The man delivered an envelope to The Border Mail office in Wodonga, asking it be forwarded to the family. He did not leave his name. We do not know who he is. In that envelope was a bank cheque for $10,000.
When the cheque arrived, Gail and Emma were in disbelief. “I think I just had a meltdown, I started crying,” Gail said.
For Gail, treatment in India represents the hope that she can keep her daughter out of a nursing home. For Emma, it is the hope that she may one day walk again unaided.
Diagnosed at 18, Emma, now 37, had been in relatively good health until about two years ago when her deterioration became rapid.
Her mother’s overwhelming fear is that without treatment, that deterioration will see Emma have to be in a home by the age of 40.
“She went down very quickly, that was the sad part, she just sort of woke up one day and then she just kept falling over,” Gail said.
Without the sizeable mystery donation, Gail and Emma simply would not have had enough money to fund their trip to India.
But this overwhelming act of generosity from a total stranger has ensured it will now happen. Gail and Emma still can’t quite believe it.
When it comes to random acts of kindness, they don’t get much better than this. We all know that even the smallest act of kindness in our own lives, particularly when unexpected, can make our day, and lift our spirits.
But this grand gesture from a stranger will do so much more than that. It will change lives. We thank you, whoever you are, for your incredible kindness.
