Tiger Woods wrote a letter to a bullied kid who attempted suicide

[mvmac]

http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/25181083/tiger-woods-wrote-a-letter-to-a-bullied-kid-who-attempted-suicide

Quote:

Ron Sirak recently wrote about a boy who had been been bullied at school and was really struggling with his friendships and life , partly because of a stuttering problem.

Here's the email the boy's mom wrote to Sirak's friend, Sophie Gustafson, which Sirak discussed at Golf Digest :

“Wanted to give you update,” the Mom wrote. “Things had been going well for awhile. He played football for the first time this year, however, he was teased about his stuttering and quit the team. He has really been struggling lately, feeling lonely due to the really does not have any close friends.”

She continued:

“On the week of April 16th, he had a bad week, he had been teased about his stuttering. That evening, he attempted suicide. He yelled downstairs 'Good bye, I love you.' Me and my husband immediately ran upstairs, his bedroom door was locked, we busted down the door and he was sitting on the window and was getting ready to jump. We were able to grab him and keep him from going head first onto the concrete below.”

As somebody with kids, that's as heartbreaking a thing as you could possibly read.

The boy's mom was desperately searching for something to hold on to so she threw Big Cat's name out there.

“He continues to love to watch golf and is still a fan of Tiger,” the Mom wrote. “Is there anyway we could get his story to Tiger and see if he could help find something encouraging for [him] to look forward to?”

Sirak's response? "Yes, I will make certain Tiger knows this boy is a fan."

He did and Big Cat sent the kid a letter that, I have to say, is the most important thing I've heard about Woods in a long time.

[colin007]

doesnt surprise me.  i think tiger is a decent guy.  he has had HUGE issues, but by all accounts they seem to be in the past now.

[krupa]

When I hear about high school kids picking on each other like this, I see red.  I don't want to get invoke the wrath of moderators so I'll stop there.

Good for Tiger for helping the kid out.  I hope they both have better days ahead.

[imsys0042]

That's truly terrible when a person feels that hurt to attempt suicide.   Everyone has negative things done to them in life, but some more than others.   Cliques and groups of people who band together frequently make life hard for other people who don't fit in.

Thumbs up, big time, to Tiger for taking the time to do something that special and kind to someone who is hurting.

[David in FL]

What a shame. Good on ya Tiger! :beer:

[Zeph]

doesnt surprise me.  i think tiger is a decent guy.  he has had HUGE issues, but by all accounts they seem to be in the past now.

Personal ones, yes, but he has supported charity for years, mostly through the Tiger Woods Foundation.

[iacas]

Good job Tiger. Plus, these kinds of things are probably under-reported (and I don't just mean about Tiger).

I also really, really think some of the people making some of the comments on the original article deserve to stand in front of a Tiger stinger 3W.

[Yukari]

It's always nice to see someone as big as Tiger to reach out to someone in need.

Makes you believe in humanity after all.

You have to feel bad for the parents though.  It has to be one of the worst thing a parent can go through is seeing your kid attempting suicide.  Must've felt very helpless.

Kudos for Tiger.

[saevel25]

Great to see Tiger help out this kid.

[Gunther]

Great gesture on Tiger's part. Just love stories like this and I agree with Sirak, this is the most important thing we've heard about him in a long while. FWIW, Sophie is a former (current?) LPGA player from Sweden, I think. Married to Ty Votaw.

[Wally Fairway]

good for Tiger

{waiting for someone to post Jack would have written 2 letter}

[mvmac]

I also really, really think some of the people making some of the comments on the original article deserve to stand in front of a Tiger stinger 3W.

Just when I thought I was cynical.....jeez

[GolfLug]

Yayy Tiger!

[imsys0042]

Good job Tiger. Plus, these kinds of things are probably under-reported (and I don't just mean about Tiger).

I also really, really think some of the people making some of the comments on the original article deserve to stand in front of a Tiger stinger 3W.

You mean the CBS Sports story?   That's the problem with anonymous, wide open web sites for leaving comments and more community based sites like this.   It's also the difference between Facebook and Twitter.  While a lot of bad stuff happens on FaceBook, it's more tied to you as a person.   Twitter has a huge troll problem, and because you can dummy up an email and join and say horrible things with no repercussions....

[Ernest Jones]

When I hear about high school kids picking on each other like this, I see red.  I don't want to get invoke the wrath of moderators so I'll stop there. Good for Tiger for helping the kid out.  I hope they both have better days ahead.

With ya on that. Makes me want to go hunt them down.

[Shorty]

The story is fake.

In the same way that these images are photoshopped.

Tiger has NEVER signed an autograph or said anything nice to a fan.

He certainly doesn't write letters to kids.

The PGATour knows it has an image problem on its hands and is in cahoots with the CIA to rectify it.

BTW - the Rickie Fowler victory was a hologram to force interest in the "anonymous poll" that was fabricated.

Garcia was clearly drugged after finishing his round to make sure he didn't win.

Did you see the guy with the hat talking to Kisner before the fourth playoff hole? He was clearly told what he had to do. Or not do.

WAKE UP SHEEPIES!!!!!!!

[SavvySwede]

I remember Tiger talking about having a stutter when he was really young being raised in a two language household, strange that the article doesn't mention it. Go Tiger!

[Shorty]

I remember Tiger talking about having a stutter when he was really young being raised in a two language household, strange that the article doesn't mention it. Go Tiger!

I would say that this sort of thing happens more than we think.

I would also venture to say that Tiger would be one player who would prefer that his efforts go unreported and on the quiet.

It's not about him, it's about the child.

I won't name names, but there are players who do this stuff to get publicity. Tiger is not one of those people.