Orange County airport worker meets woman after her GoFundMe raised more than $170,000 for him

An Orange County airport worker who became the subject of a GoFundMe fundraiser that garnered more than $170,000 in donations was united with the woman who started it all on Saturday, more than a month after she spotted him working through pain on the job.

When CBS LA first spoke with James Blair, a U.S. Navy veteran who has spent the last two decades working at John Wayne Airport, the fundraiser had gathered just over $65,000. At the time, he said that he thought it was funny and that he didn't think that anyone cared about him working through years of injuries from refueling planes. 

"When I first saw the video, and I saw the money coming up, I started laughing, because I've been doing this job for 20 years and I just didn't think anybody actually cared," Blair said. 

Now, a month later, he finally got a chance to meet the woman who changed everything when Lacinda Thackeray, from Utah, made the trip to Southern California to gift him the check. 

"It's amazing," Blair said on Saturday when Thackeray surprised him once again, this time at his Orange County home. "I'm at a loss for words."

Thackeray said that they've gotten support from around the world, with people from countries like Norway, Africa and the Netherlands coming forward with kind words or donations. 

"They just care about him, and I think they care just as much as I care," Thackeray said. 

She said that she originally recorded the video of Blair limping across the airport tarmac because he was visibly struggling, and she thought that someone in that position shouldn't have to continue putting so much wear on themselves. Despite this, Blair said he plans to continue working, as he has for as long as he can remember, so that he can pay for his 90-year-old mother's hospice care.