SCHERTZ, Texas -- A 6-year-old boy from Schertz, who has already been through more heartache than most kids, is on a mission to end heart disease.
Tanner Mudge raised $5,000 for the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser at Schertz Elementary School. He won numerous prizes, including an iPad, all of which he donated to Abriel Cuizon.
They are from different parts of the world and speak different languages, but Tanner and Abriel now share a special bond.
"We donated a lot of money so peoples' hearts don't stop. We don't want people to die," said Tanner.
The 6-year-old's father died following a stroke two years ago. Now, his mother is now battling stage four breast cancer. "He has kept a smile and a positive, fighting attitude through it all," said his mother Marsha Mudge.
Abriel, 12, is from the Philippines. She just had surgery to repair in a hole in her heart March 2.
"She felt nervous," said Veronica Nacario, her grandmother.
It was an operation Abriel didn't have access to back in the Philippines. She was brought to the United States by the Heart Gift organization, which paid for her to have the surgery done.
"It's things kids would want, and he did it without a tear. He wanted to do it. He wanted to give her all this stuff," said Tanner's mother.
Mudge said she couldn't be more proud of Tanner's mission to beat heart disease.
"It's nice to see that [their] generation is giving, and hopefully that'll continue the rest of their life," she said.