CSXT workers bring smile to boy’s face with new bike
Written by jrood
They came to town to repair our railroad tracks. And in the process, they fixed our beliefs in humanity, the Middletown, Ohio, Journal reports.
On April 14, Levi Hensley,
a fifth-grader at Amanda Elementary School, saw CSX Transportation workers
ripping up railroad tracks near his house and, being 100 percent boy, he had to
watch.
When the CSXT workers – who
live from Michigan to Miami – met Levi, they struck up a casual conversation
and asked why the 11-year-old was riding a girl’s bike. He lowered his head and
mumbled the bike belonged to his aunt and his bike was stolen.
Hearing this, some of us
would have thought, "That’s what you get for leaving your bike, kid."
The story could have ended
here, but, as Chris Brigman, a CSXT worker from Rockingham, N.C., said: "No kid
should be unhappy. That’s just not right."
So Brigman and fellow
employee, Curtis Chesnut, from London, Ky., purchased a blue Power Climber
mountain bike from Walmart, and delivered it to Levi at his house.
When Brigman and Chesnut
discussed the bike at a morning meeting, 70 railroad workers – some who wouldn’t
know Levi from a pair of jeans – said they wanted to pay for the $106 bike. One
dollar, 45 cents each. One endless smile.
"Awesome," Levi said when
asked about his new bike.
Richard Riley, 60, praised
the workers for stepping up and helping his grandson. "What they did," Riley
said, patting his nephew’s head, "was absolutely wonderful."
Levi can feel secure
knowing his bicycle will stay put; the workers also included a lock with the
bike. "This one ain’t going nowhere," he said.
