Tiger Woods’ Letter: Boy Bullied For Stuttering Gets Reassuring, Supportive Letter From Golf Star

Tiger Woods’ letter to a boy who’s been the target of bullying due to stuttering has made him feel supported by the golf superstar. Woods once suffered stuttering as a child, so he understands the turmoil that can go along with it.

When Tiger learned that a high school boy named Dillon tried committing suicide due to the same speech impediment he had, he reached out. Huffington Post writes that this is all according to a fellow pro golfer. It’s noted that Tiger’s letter isn’t published.

Former LPGA Tour player Sophie Gustafson posted a thank you message on Twitter to Tiger Woods for his letter he sent her friend. Gustafson also has a stutter. She and Dillon were featured in a Golf Digest story recently. Gustafson, who’s a five-time winner on the tour, contacted Golf Digest after she received a moving email from Dillon’s mother.

Dillon’s mother told Gustafson that he played football for the first time, but quit when some of the teammates were teasing him. The teen was ready to end it all.

Dillon’s mother wrote how it all unfolded last month.

“… On the week of April 16th, he had a bad week, he had been teased about his stuttering. That evening, he attempted suicide. He yelled downstairs ‘Good bye, I love you.’ Me and my husband immediately ran upstairs, his bedroom door was locked, we busted down the door and he was sitting on the window and was getting ready to jump. We were able to grab him and keep him from going head first onto the concrete below.”

Dillon’s mother wrote Gustafson, desperate to help her son find a bright spot in his life. Gustafson knew the teen was going through something very serious and he needed the right words from the right person.

“He continues to love to watch golf and is still a fan of Tiger,” Dillon’s mother wrote. “Is there anyway we could get his story to Tiger and see if he could help find something encouraging for [him] to look forward to?”

Golf Digest writer, Ron Sirak, noticed the correspondence and said he’d do his best to reach out to Tiger. It worked, and Woods came through for the young man and wrote him a heartfelt letter.

Tiger Woods’ letter made a huge impact on Dillon and he’s feeling far more optimistic hearing from someone he admires in sports. Dillon’s mother said her son was so ecstatically happy to receive Tiger’s letter and is framing and hanging it up.

[Photo by David Cannon/Getty Image]