Aussie man sends Illinois family wheelchair for autistic son

TAMAROA, Ill. (AP) - Katie Harsy never met the Australia man she's played Scrabble with for nearly two years on Facebook. However, the southern Illinois woman with a disabled son gets full of emotion when she talks about the man's generosity.

KFVS-TV (http://bit.ly/1z9CPB6) reports Katie Harsy and her husband couldn't afford a wheelchair for their 6-year-old son Sam, who has severe autism. That's when help came from 69-year-old John Wood of Queensland, Australia, about 10,000 miles away.

Wood offered the Tamaroa family assistance and came through with a wheelchair he recently sent to the Harsys.

Katie Harsy says the delivery left her sobbing like a baby, and her son "didn't want to get out of it."

Wood calls his gesture "a no-brainer" and hopes others follow his lead when it comes to families in need.

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Information from: KFVS-TV, http://www.kfvs12.com