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Billionaire Gives $20K to Stranger for Medical Procedure
Wallet image by Fedorov Oleksiy via Shutterstock
Hey, here's some breaking news: billionaires aren't all bad! (JK, JK, we don't really think that they are). Ty Warner, the owner of Ty, Inc, the company that makes Beanie Babies, recently donated $20,000 of his own money to a woman he barely knew in order to help her get a stem cell treatment she needed.
According to the Huffington Post, Warner was driving through Santa Monica when he found himself lost. He pulled into a nearby parking lot to ask directions and there, he met Jennifer Vasilakos, who happened to have a fundraising booth set up. She explained to him that she needed funds for the stem cell procedure, and that she'd have to get it done out of the country.
Her story made an impact on Warner, and later, he tracked her down and mailed her the $20,000 check.
Warner said in a statement released on Tuesday that in addition to wanting to help Vasilakos, he wants to forward the cause of stem cell procedures here in the U.S.
"My hope is that we can bring this lifesaving treatment to the forefront so that it can become more readily available and provide alternatives for people like Jennifer."
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