Several days ago, KRTV posted about Andrew Jewell, who was singled out for praise by Savanna Johnston and her husband for going "above and beyond" in helping them.
- Lewistown family needed urgent car repair in order to get to Seattle for emergency surgery
- Andrew volunteered to help them on his days off and at his own expense
- Denver woman created a GoFundMe account for people to say thank you to Andrew
The Johnstons needed help with the transmission in their car because we had no other way to get to Seattle Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery for their unborn child. Savanna said they had a small budget and needed someone willing to work with them on payments and overall cost, knowing it’s "a hard and expensive job, we didn’t see how we were going to figure this out."
Savanna said in a Facebook post: "We called almost every local auto shop in the area with absolutely no luck. They either didn’t do transmissions or were unwilling to do payments. We waited all night hoping for somebody to comment knowing it may not happen and I may have to fly over alone without my son who also has severe medical needs and needs my assistance and without my husband for support.
The Johnstons then received a message from Charlie Matovich Eike saying that her son Andrew may be able to help. Andrew called the Johnstons and said he was willing to fix the transmission, and "all he asked was for us to pay his gas!"
Savanna wrote: "Let me remind you the shops I called asked for $800 to $1500 or more for the same job this young guy was offering for a whole $70. We were in shock and so amazed as we had never met him and only met Charlie once through the same local facebook group! He talked to us a while and explained that he would fix what needed done with the transmission. He then said he would be here around 12pm since he was coming all the way from GREAT FALLS! THATS A 2 HOUR DRIVE! We felt this overwhelming amount of emotions and had no way to thank him enough. He kept his promise and was there by noon and almost immediately began going to work on it."
She continued, "As he began he realized just how much needed work and instead of just doing what he said he began to fix it ALL he rotated our tires, fixed our air conditioner, put in our new transmission and much more! He worked hard long hours for THREE DAYS to fix our vehicle so we could get to Seattle safe! This 20 year old who had just graduated college and had just worked over a week straight with 15 hour days on fencing in the hot sun, then took his only three days off to come and fix a family’s vehicle he didnt even know! He was so kind so smart and so incredibly helpful to us in our time of need! He was our blessing! What he did we could never thank him enough or repay him."
Unfortunately, the trip to Seattle ended on a tragic note, with Savanna sharing the following message: "We dont really no what to say or how to explain our feelings at this time! Tomorrow we go in and get admitted to deliver our son at only 20 weeks and say our goodbyes… We never thought this would happen to us and cant imagine what each individual parent goes through with this.. We love our son so much and want nothing more than to bring home his ashes and have a gathering for him please help us share this fundraiser in hopes we can raise enough For his cremation and gathering… God bless you all and please be patient as we are not going to be answering to many messages today."
Despite the sad news, news of Andrew’s kindness spread quickly on social media, with thousands of people liking, sharing, and commenting, and many wondering how they could show their gratitude to Andrew.
On Thursday, a woman in Golden, Colorado, provided the answer.
She goes by the name of "Bag Lady Sue," and she is a comedian and entertainer. After talking with Andrew’s mother and confirming the details, Sue created a GoFundMe account so that people can donate to Andrew.
The GoFundMe page created by Sue states: "This morning this young man’s story crossed my desk. I don’t know him or his family, but I had to do something back for such great folks, so I made them a page. ALL money goes to the boy. xo Bag Lady Sue."
On her personal Facebook page, Sue wrote: "I wrote his mom and she told me he is a good, hard working, christian, young man who never asks for anything and is struggling to pay off school and tools he bought to start his own biz…. Let’s help! All money goes directly to them. Thanks all. God Bless!"
If you would like to help Andrew, click here to visit the GoFundMe page.
If you would like to help the Johnstons, click here.
