Although 2017 had its rocky moments, it was also riddled with random acts of kindness that will pull at the heartstrings.
Whether it be strangers helping each other or the public coming together to help one boy battling cancer celebrate his last Christmas, 2017 proved that there are good people in the world.
Here are some of the memorable acts of compassion that we witnessed this year.
Boy who died of cancer celebrated Christmas early thanks to public
Jacob Thompson, 9, who was battling cancer, asked strangers from around the world to send him Christmas cards early to celebrate his last holiday.
Thompson was hospitalized in Portland, Maine, in October after a four-year battle with Stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma. Doctors had told his family the child had only a month to live.
Thompson’s parents wanted to give the boy one last Christmas and said their son wanted people to send him Christmas cards.
Within days of his initial request, Thompson had received more than 30,000 cards from around the world. Sadly, however, Thompson died on Nov. 19.
Nurse gives comfort to dying patient
In October, a tear-jerking video of a Nashville nurse giving comfort to a dying cancer patient went viral.
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The video taken at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, shows nurse Olivia Neufelder comforting Margaret Smith by singing her favourite song, Dancing in the Sky by Dani and Lizzy.
The 63-year-old patient had been battling liver cancer for a year and just learned that she was too weak to survive a transplant.
Neufelder decided to sing to Smith to cheer her up.
Dentist fixes domestic abuser survivor’s tooth for free
On Oct. 12, one act of kindness from a dentist in Marshall, Texas brought one domestic abuse survivor “back to light.” Kyleigha Scott says her ex broke her front tooth when he head-butted her.
Scott, who works two jobs as a waitress and a cashier, couldn’t afford to get her tooth fixed. She told the dentist that she was waiting for her income tax return in the hopes of having enough money.
“I just felt like she’d been through enough and it was about time someone gave her a break in life,” Wilstead said.
The moment Scott saw her new tooth was captured on video, where you can see her crying of joy.
Hairdresser fixes depressed teen’s hair
A hairdresser in Waterloo, Iowa posted before and after photos of her 16-year-old client’s hair. The teen, who suffers from severe depression, wanted Kayley Olsson to cut it off completely.
But instead, Olsson took 13 hours over two days working on the teenager’s matted hair. “We finally made this beautiful girl smile and feel like she IS worth something! Her last words to me was, ‘I will actually smile for my school picture today, you made me feel like me again.’”
Posting the story on Facebook, Olsson said she met the 16-year-old teen with severe depression at her place of work on Aug. 8.
Teen brings graduation to hospital where dad battles cancer
Heaven Bailey learned that her father, who was admitted to the hospital in mid-May for terminal cancer, wouldn’t be able to attend her little sister Hollie’s high school graduation.
In a Facebook post, which went viral, Heaven tells the story of how in response to the disappointing news, Hollie’s friends and school staged an early graduation ceremony at the hospital so her father, Larry, could be in attendance.
The hospital collaborated on the celebration by baking Hollie a cake, securing a flower donation from a local retailer and ensuring the cafeteria was secured for the ceremony.
Following Heaven’s viral post, hundreds of Facebook users shared their support and thoughts for the family.
***With files from Aalia Adam, Arti Patel, Adam Frisk Global News.
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