Struggling teen returned veteran's lost wallet with over $2k inside — then a text from his mom left him speechless
People might choose to do the right thing even if they are struggling at times. A teen whose family had been struggling financially and was on a fixed income chose to do the right thing when he found a wallet with more than $2k in cash. He was walking across a street to get soda for himself and his brother at a 7-Eleven when he came across the wallet. The high school senior, Tommy O'Connor, explained that keeping the money never crossed his mind, per Local 12 News.
"It was like a bunch of hundreds," O'Connor shared. The wallet had 23 hundred-dollar bills and it was a big sum for the teen. "I didn't count it when I saw it. I just saw it and thought it was probably someone's rent or something." His family was on fixed income at that time and didn't have enough money for lunch the day before he found the wallet. But the boy didn't keep the money and gave it to a teacher's assistant immediately. "With us living month to month, it is a big chunk of money and I'm so proud of him that he did that," the teen's dad, Ron O'Connor, told the outlet.
O'Connor was really worried about the money reaching its rightful owner and kept sharing his worries with his mother throughout the ordeal. "Mom, if it doesn't get back to the right person, they won't pay their rent," the mom, Sherry O'Connor, recounted what her son had told her repeatedly after he found the wallet. It turned out that the wallet belonged to a veteran and authorities were able to give it back to the rightful owner. The veteran decided to thank the teen by giving him $50 for returning his wallet. "I am just proud that he did the right thing and hopefully all of my children would have done the same thing," the dad continued.
Once everything was done and over, the teen's mom told him how proud she was of his selfless act through a text message. "I'm very proud of you, son. Ms. Kalra called me. Wow. You're one in a million, love you to the moon and back." The son simply responded, "You should be thanking yourself. You raised me." He shared, "I am just doing something I wish everyone else would do." O'Connor's kind act received over 237,542 views on YouTube.
Many young people decide to do the right thing when no one is watching, just like O'Connor. A 14-year-old boy, Cody Chalmers, was riding his bike on a road when he came across a wallet lying on the street, per AZ family. Although Chalmers was saving for an electric bike, he decided to do return the wallet and sent a photo of the ID inside the wallet to his mom. They were able to find the woman and return her wallet. His proud mom, Carrie Strecker, wrote a Facebook post about the incident and was glad that her son did the honest thing. To the duo's surprise, a stranger offered to buy the $4000 bike the teen was saving for and soon enough, he was going around the neighborhood on his dream bike.