Terry Hays fondly remembers driving home with her father in the family’s Chevrolet Apache pickup. Knowing this, her husband Bruce bought a beat-up ‘59 Apache for Terry as an anniversary gift, intending fix it together with her. Before he could though, Bruce was shipped off to Afghanistan, and was unfortunately killed by a roadside bomb soon after arriving there.

It’s a tragic story with a bittersweet ending. Fox News reports that volunteers, inspired by Bruce’s selflessness, got together and finished the Apache pickup for Terry. The story has many twists and turns, starting with a shady mechanic who took Bruce for $17,000 when he tried to pay to have the Apache professionally restored.

Bruce vowed to have the still-in-pieces truck fixed up right for his wife, but that plan was cut short when the Humvee he was riding it was hit with a roadside explosive device. Bruce, along with four others, was killed.

That was back in 2008. As the story of Bruce’s life and the truck he wanted to restore spread, volunteers from all walks of life came together to finish Bruce’s final gift for his family. The truck was fully restored and delivered to Terry and her family in February of 2011. It’s a really touching story, and we’re glad that this father and husband’s final gift came together despite all odds.