From March 21, Calgary Herald:
While an impromptu act of charity might have only taken a day's work and some wheeling and dealing for those who did it, the woman who received it is still astounded almost a month later.
Chris Restall, a Calgary mom battling breast cancer, took her car to Tools in Motion in Airdrie to get a coolant leak fixed with a $250 gift certificate she'd won.
But she walked away with almost $2,500 worth of work done, and wasn't asked for a single cent of compensation.
She had already driven one car into the ground, travelling back and forth while sharing custody of her young son and getting to and from Foothills Hospital for cancer treatment, and she was well on her way to driving her latest ride, which only cost her $500 to buy, to a similar fate.
She just didn't know how close she was -- the guys at Tools in Motion spotted it.
"I live in my car -- I need my car," Restall said.
"I have responsibilities and without my vehicle that would just make my life so much more difficult."
Tools in Motion fixed the leak. They also replaced the tires, the fuel pump, the front wheel bearings, the brake pads and rotors, and the power steering hose, and they aligned the wheels, calling up partners Auto Value Parts Store, NAPA Auto Parts and Tire Wholesalers along the way in their goodwill endeavour.
"They definitely went above and beyond . . . I was very shocked, and I was quite pleasantly surprised," Restall said.
When she went to pick up the car, she said, the new tires were the first clues to what Tools in Motion had done.
"I didn't know how to react, quite honestly -- I wanted to cry," she said.
"They were just lit right up with all the work they did. They were standing there, shoulder-to shoulder, beaming . . . just smiling at me."
Maybe Tools in Motion doesn't want that money, Restall said, but thank-you notes and baked goods are definitely in order after their act of kindness.
--Damien Wood