Tom Hanks befriends bullied 8-year-old named Corona

Legendary actor Tom Hanks has a new penpal: an 8-year-old Australian boy called Corona, who says he has been bullied because of his name.

Corona DeVries, from Queensland, first wrote to the actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, after hearing that they had tested positive for coronavirus while in Australia.

In his letter, shown on air Thursday by Australian news channel 9News, DeVries wrote that he heard on the news that Hanks and his wife had caught the coronavirus and asked them if they were ok.

Earlier this month, DeVries told 9News that he had recently been called "coronavirus" at school.

DeVries says he wrote to Hanks and Rita Wilson, wishing them well and saying he knows what it's like to feel down.

It wasn't long before Hanks, responded- sending DeVries a typewritten letter and the Corona-brand typewriter he had brought with him and used in Australia.

Hanks addressed his note to "Friend Corona" and expressed his gratitude for the 8-year-old's concern about his and Wilson's health. 

Hanks thanked DeVries for being such a good friend and told him friends make their friends feel good when they are down. And at the bottom of his letter, Hanks added the handwritten postscript "You got a friend in me!" -- the name of the "Toy Story" theme song.

[Source: CNN]