We don't know about you, but sometimes we mindlessly scroll social media to escape from our day-to-day drama. Every once in a while, during these zone-out sessions, something grabs us, and we just can't let it go. We found ourselves in this exact situation in early February, when we saw a woman crying on TikTok and an image of an older man in a purple Louisiana State University jacket. But we had no idea the ride we were in for.
In a now-viral TikTok video, Carrie Gagliano, who posts as @glitter_n_gluesticks, tearfully explained that her father, Michael "Bubba" Gagliano, 75, had died on February 4 and that his prized LSU jacket disappeared from the nursing home where he lived. His family, desperate to get the jacket back, went to social media for help, and their story exploded. It is one that will no doubt have you reaching for a tissue.
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Bubba was a huge LSU fan.
Gagliano tearfully explained that her father wore his jacket "everywhere," and when she and her sister discovered it was not in his room after he died, they desperately wanted to find it.
A woman at the nursing home reportedly told the devastated daughter it was donated to a Goodwill store, and in the video she begged anyone who may have seen it to contact her. In a subsequent video, Gagliano said her father had been in the LSU band and had the jacket custom made, so it could never be replaced.
The video caught the attention of millions.
Not only did the original video have 1.7 million views, but big-name TikToker Justin Danger Nunley, @justin_danger_nuley, who has 7.4 million followers, also heard the story and took to his platform to help.
He said he understood the power of social media. "Let's find the jacket. Come on now, we got this," he urged with a smile. Nunley also offered a no-questions-asked reward for the jacket's safe return.
Tips poured in.
Gagliano and Nunley continued sharing information for the next couple of days as their story gained traction. But a lot of it was no good, and people just wanted to cash in on the $5,000 reward.
"Any time there's money involved in social media, people will try to scam you," Nunley said.
But when Gagliano sent a message to Nunley with images of the jacket, they felt a glimmer of hope.
Nunley drove four and a half hours, hoping for a miracle.
When we tell you we were sobbing when he posted a video of himself wearing the jacket and saying, "Carrie, I think I have something that belongs to you," we are not kidding.
Soon, she posted a pic of herself and Nunley, another woman, and a boy, wearing the jacket, and the joy and relief were positively palpable. Seeing kindness and love in the world is a nice shift when things often seem so dark.
It turns out the jacket wasn’t donated at all.
Gagliano and Nunley declined to disclose how the jacket left the nursing home, but the people who returned it had nothing to do with its disappearance.
Gagliano explained, "What I do want to be very clear about is that the people involved in returning the jacket had nothing to do with it being taken from my dad's room. They were innocent in all of this. And I prayed if anyone was going to get that reward money, it would be people who were good people and truly needed that money. And that is what happened."
Many followers reached out in the comments, wanting to bless the unidentified family who helped get Bubba's jacket back home to his family. Nunley started a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $36,000 to help those who have recently faced personal struggles.
"Let's come together as a community to lift this family up during their darkest hour. Your kindness will not go unnoticed or unappreciated," he wrote. "Thank you for considering supporting this anonymous family in need. Your compassion and generosity will make a world of difference."
People often talk about the evils of technology and social media, but this story proves that there are still a lot of good people who just want to do the right thing.
