(Newswire.net— April 25, 2020) — American actor Tom Hanks wrote a letter and donated a typewriter to a boy from Australia named Corona, who says he was harassed over his name.
Eight-year-old Corona de Vries has sent a letter to “Toy Story” star and his wife, Rita Wilson after the couple contracted the Coronavirus in Queensland.
“I heard on the news you and your wife had caught the coronavirus,” the boy wrote. “Are you OK?”
Corona added that he was bullied in school because of his name and that he gets “very sad and angry” when people call him after the disease.
In response, Tom Hanks replied with a letter that began: “Dear Friend Corona”.
“Your letter made my wife and I feel so wonderful! Thank you for being such a good friend – friends make friends feel good when they are down.”
The couple returned to the US after spending nearly three weeks in March recovering from COVID-19 in Australia.
“You are the only person I’ve ever known to have the name Corona – like the ring around the sun, a crown,” the Oscar-winning actor wrote in the letter. He also sent the boy a typewriter from the Corona brand, which he used while he was quarantined.
“I thought this typewriter would suit you,” he said. “I had taken it to the Gold Coast, and now, it is back – with you. Ask grown-ups how it works. And use it to write me back.”
The De Vries family told Australian Nine News about young Corona’s case, which helped bring the boy’s letter to Tom Hanks, and that the boy was excited to have a “new friend in the US.”
Corona decided to write to the actor about Woody’s role in the animated movie “Toy Story,” the boy’s family said.
Hanks added at the end of the letter: “P.S. You have a friend!”, which is a reference to the song You Have a Friend in Me from the kids movie.
Last month, the Hollywood couple traveled to Australia where Wilson gave a series of concerts, while Hanks began shooting an Elvis Presley biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann.
The couple is suspected to have contracted the Coronavirus while traveling to Australia.