Reddit inspires Schwarzenegger to reach out to autistic man dying of cancer

(Reddit, The Canadian Press)

Arnold Schwarzenegger may seem a little larger than life, what with his epic physique, Governator political career and recent speech at the Paris climate talks, but that didn’t stop him from taking a moment to reach out to an autistic man dying of terminal brain cancer.

Here’s how it all unfolded: about 15 hours ago, a Reddit user named Courser posted a heartfelt note to the Reddit Bodybuilding forum about his adult brother Todd. Though he is autistic and has learning disabilities, Todd was inspired by his hero Arnold Schwarzenegger to become a “bodybuilder,” working out in his spare time and keeping in excellent physical shape.

Courser writes:

“Even though he can’t read or write past a second grade level, he got himself into such good shape that he had a full time job. He worked as a groundskeeper until this spring, when he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme).”

Courser says that Todd has kept his spirits up despite rounds of chemo and radiation, but it looks like this Christmas will be his last.

So Courser made a request to the people of Reddit:

“I sent an email to a publicity contact I found for the Governor, asking for a personalized picture that I could give my brother for Christmas, but I can only imagine how busy that account is and I haven’t heard back. Can anyone suggest another way to reach him? I want to see my brother’s face light up on his last Christmas morning, and an autograph from his idol is the best thing I can think of.”

No muscles left but still smiling, wrote Todd’s brother on Reddit (Reddit)

Immediately, people began up-voting Courser’s post, and within an hour, users were tagging their votes with Schwarzenegger’s Reddit user name, “/u/GovSchwarzenegger”, so he would be sure to see it. Users also began posting Courser’s note to other pages (the Reddit’s “Fitness” group denied it, shame on them).

A few minutes later, Courser’s was the top post on Reddit, and it wasn’t long before do-gooders began flooding Schwarzenegger’s Twitter feed with the freshly minted hashtag, #HelpTodd.