Maybe it was fate that caused a text to be sent to the wrong family. Maybe it was a coincidence. Whatever it was, a mistakenly sent photo has helped the family of a little boy with leukemia and could help others with cancer.
A girl named Sydney was trying on a gown and sent a photo of herself in it to Tony Wood by mistake. Wood's a dad of six and instead of either ignoring the message or sending a bland "wrong number," he and five of his children sent the girl a thumbs up, telling her to go with the gown, WZTV reported.
The photos and messages went viral and got the attention of hundreds of thousands of people.
Two people were missing: Wood’s wife and their son Kaizler.
Kaizler has leukemia, and Wood's wife was at the hospital with him, WZTV reported.
Once strangers found out why the family was missing two members, they jumped into action and started donating to the Woods' GoFundMe page set up to help pay for Kaizler's treatments, WZTV reported.
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The goal had been set at $10,000, but thanks to the viral story, they surpassed it and have raised more than $52,000.
The Wood family is now using its newfound viral fame, and the kindness of others, to help another family in the area in a similar situation.
The Woods put the word out about Finn Shafran, who has a rare cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. He has had his bladder removed and still has an 85 percent chance of relapse without chemotherapy. The Shafran family is raising money for his treatments with a goal set of $25,000. As of Friday afternoon, it was less than $1,500 short of that goal.
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