While both Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were recovering from COVID-19, the husband and wife were in Australia. And during that time, News 7 reports, he received a letter from a young boy.
The boy who wrote the letter is eight years old and his name is Corona De Vries. And as he shared in his letter to Hanks, he admitted that due to the COVID-19 outbreak happening around the world, he’s been getting teased because his name resembles coronavirus.
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As News 7 reports, De Vries, who is named after “the outermost layer of the sun,” wrote that he “heard on the news you and your wife had caught the coronavirus. Are you ok? I love my name but at school, people call me the coronavirus. I get very sad and angry when people call me this.”
And in true Hank’s fashion, the actor didn’t just let the boy’s letter go, he responded on his Corona typewriter before boxing it up and sending it to De Vries as a gift. “Your letter made my wife and I feel so wonderful,” Hanks wrote.
Tom Hanks Gifts His Typewriter to Boy Bullied for Being Named Corona
“Thank you for being such a good friend. Friends make their friends feel good when they are down. I saw you on TV, even though I was back in the USA already – and all healthy. Even though I was no longer sick, getting your letter made me feel even better,” Hanks then signed the letter, “You’ve got a friend in me!”
“I thought this typewriter would suit you,” Hanks told De Vries. “I had taken it to the Gold Coast, and now, it is back – with you. Ask a grown-up how it works. And use it to write me back.”
And as De Vries told ABC 11, he was so excited that the typewriter had his name on it and added that he definitely plans on using it to write Hanks back. “Over the moon,” De Vries’ dad said of his son’s reaction. “I think it was an understatement. He was ecstatic.” Amazing.