A CAR that arrived at an auto stop as a total loss was brilliantly repaired and gifted to a very deserving new owner.
In a wonderful gesture, a group of car mechanics fully refurbished a beat up Mazda and then gifted it to a veteran without a vehicle of his own.
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Steven Ankrom of Charlottesville, Virginia, was struggling to make ends meet after serving 19 years in the US Air Force.
What’s worse, without a car, he was forced to walk 12 miles each way just to get to work.
But all of that changed when Caliber Collision, as part of the NABC Recycled Rides program, gifted him a fully refurbished 2019 Mazda CX3.
The car was once badly damaged, but was fully repaired by the team of experts, lead by general manager James Southers.
Southers said: “When we received the car, it came to us damaged as a total loss. Technically, we repaired it.
“Basically, what we do is start over from scratch. We make a brand-new car.
“This car, as you can see, doesn’t have a single scratch, and the interior is flawless — it’s essentially brand new when we give it away.”
The project was taken up by Caliber Collision’s technicians in their own time, with all of the parts donated.
Southers added: “We have a whole list of parts suppliers nationwide who actually donated parts. We appreciate everything they did.”
Naturally, Ankrom was quite taken back by the act of kindness, and said he’s “got his life back.”
Ankrom said: “All I want to say is thank-you to everybody. I’m very grateful to the community for your support.
“I’ve got my life back now, and I’m very grateful. Thank you so much.”
He added that he has a lot of plans for the car, including a trip back home to Virginia.
“I’ve got a lot of plans. I’ve got some trips I’m gonna take — what they call the bucket list.
“I’ve got a lot of things I want to do in a short time, and this will help me do that.”
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