Tom Hanks presents a gift to a boy bullied over name

American actor and producer Tom Hanks has received attention for his warm support to an Australian boy who was bullied over his name, Corona. Hanks has recently recovered from the CIVID-19 after testing positive for the virus in Australia last month.

Eight-year-old Corona De Vries from the Gold Coast, Australia wrote a letter to Hanks last month, according to News9 on Thursday (local time). At that time, Hanks and his wife were in self-isolation at a resort in Gold Coast after contracting COVID-19.

“I heard on the news you and your wife had caught the coronavirus. Are you ok?,” wrote Corona in the letter. “I love my name but at school people call me the coronavirus,” added Corona saying he is very sad and angry about it.

The 63-year-old Hollywood star wrote the boy back using a Corona-brand typewriter he brought to Australia with him. He shared a photo of the Corona typewriter on his Instagram account earlier, saying he was traveling with the typewriter he used to love. Hanks is known to be an avid collector of typewriters, owning hundreds of them.

On the bottom of the letter, Hanks wrote, “P.S. You got a friend in ME!,” which is the name of the theme song from the animation Toy Story. Hanks voiced Woody, sheriff doll, in the animated film that depicted a friendship between a boy and his toys. Hanks also sent the typewriter he had for so long to the boy.

The Hank couple, who returned to their home in Los Angeles after fully recovering from COVID-19, applied for blood test for research. After it was confirmed that their blood carried antibodies, the couple donated their blood to help develop a vaccine for the virus.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com