This past Christmas, Kevin Strickland lost his wife Linda, but his sadness quickly turned to joy with the gift of a new pickup from the actor/director Dwayne Johnson.
On Friday, Strickland shared a video online of himself blowing out the candles on the big brown present they were gifted in a local restaurant (entitled the Kevin Fisher Truck), and Johnson himself making it official with a tweet.
“It’s Christmas. @TheRock gave me his custom Kevin Fisher truck. Jesus Loves Us!!! #christmas #poppingoutthecups,” wrote Strickland.
Strickland, an Army veteran, had been publicly campaigning for the surprise after sharing an original short video detailing the moment his service veteran daughter found out the news last August.
“I had to go ask the most important person I know to bring the joy into my life this Christmas. So, Katie asked me to find a video that we could make to share with all of you this Christmas,” Strickland said in the video, which was recorded at a West Virginia bowling alley.
“She found this secret” a little movie on Youtube, and she said, ‘Daddy, Daddy, I found this video and I think that you have to share it, because Daddy I think that you have to be very proud of your daughter and I think that she’s ready to share the secret with everyone.’ So, this is Katie’s video, Christmas is here now, so I guess I have to come up and surprise the biggest person that I know.”
Strickland took the opportunity to thank Johnson personally for his generosity, saying, “You touched me so much. The gift you’ve given me today is like the icing on top of everything I know that you were meant to do, because you brought that message and you’re here to raise it.”