Army Sgt. 1st Class James T. Stinson was overseas during the first Gulf War. It was Christmas Day, 1990, and depression and loneliness were beginning to get the best of him. That's when he happened to come across a newspaper article about a baby in Alabama named Kayla Moore. Eighteen-month-old Kayla was battling neuroblastoma cancer. Her parents, Starla and Darin Moore, were new parents in their 20s who were struggling to keep hope alive for their daughter.
Kayla's story had a profound impact on the exhausted soldier. He said to himself, "Wow, here’s some parents and they’re facing their worst nightmare. This is nothing. You may make it, you may not make it, but this is a kid that deserves to live." So deeply touched, Sgt. Stinson sent a letter to Kayla and her parents, along with a check for $50. It may not seem like much, but the Moores were shocked to receive the letter from a man they'd never met before — and a man in the midst of fighting for our country, no less.
Twenty-five years went by. The sergeant had returned to the U.S. and continued growing his own family, but he always wondered what happened to baby Kayla.
But that's when something incredible happened…
During the first Gulf War, Army Sgt. 1st Class James T. Stinson was stationed overseas. Just as the anxiety and isolation of war began to take hold, Sgt. Stinson found a newspaper article about a young family from Alabama in the midst of a nightmare.
Starla and Darin Moore's 18-month-old daughter was fighting her own battle; baby Kayla was diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer.
So touched by Kayla's story, Sgt. Stinson sent a letter to Kayla and her parents, all the way from Iraq to Alabama. Starla and Darin were stunned to receive a handwritten letter from a soldier they'd never met before.
He also sent a check for $50.
“We’d been in the desert for almost four months," Sgt. Stinson, recalls. "It’s cold, you’re eating the same old food, you don’t get baths regular, don’t have clean clothes regular, and it’s real easy to get to feeling sorry for yourself. And when I saw the article on Kayla, I said to myself, ‘Wow, here’s some parents and they’re facing their worst nightmare. This is nothing. You may make it, you may not make it, but this is a kid that deserves to live.’"
Decades went by, and the sergeant never knew what happened to Kayla.
Hailed a "miracle baby," Kayla ultimately healed from her battle against cancer. The chemo proved successful, but she lost half of her hearing as a result. She was constantly bullied growing up, but she was a fighter. She's now happy and healthy, and she also went on to become a beautiful beauty queen and actress with an inspiring story.
Recently, Kayla dug up an old newspaper clipping about Sgt. Stinson’s letter, prompting her family to seek him out. Nearly 25 years after sending his unexpected letter, the Moores met Sgt. Stinson for the first time ever. "I had such a difficult time holding back tears, but sometimes you just don't know how much you can inspire someone until they tell you," Kayla wrote on her blog. "To know that I was able to inspire not just any man, but a man that was fighting for our country was just indescribable."
The two were also stunned to discover they only lived an hour apart from one another in Georgia. “I’ve got five daughters, and now I’ve got six,” he said.
Just goes to show, you never know the great impact a small act of kindness can truly have. If this story touched your heart, please SHARE it with your friends on Facebook!
