STEVE HARTMAN:
00:00:09
To Jude Kofie of Aurora, Colorado, this surprise was music to his eyes. Woo hoo!
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:00:17
As we first reported back in 2023, the piano was gifted by a stranger. Yeah!
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:00:24
Jude's father, Isaiah. So one day, it just shows up at the house? Yes, all for free. Who does that?
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:00:33
The answer in a moment. But first, the reason. A year and a half earlier, Jude's dad heard a noise coming from the basement. There was an old keyboard down there, but no one knew how to play it, certainly not his then nine-year-old autistic son, Jude, or so he thought. Isaiah then got Jude a larger keyboard to see what more he could do, and boy could he do. [PIANO PLAYING] The kid never had a lesson. No one taught him any of this. How do you explain that you're as good as you are? It's a miracle. You think it's a miracle? That's what I prefer.
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:01:17
Bill Magnusson prefers that, too. Is he special? He's beyond special. He's Mozart level. It's coming from somewhere beyond.
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:01:28
Bill is a piano tuner. He saw a local news story about Jude, heard him play, learned how his parents immigrated from Ghana, how they're raising four children and sending money back to Ghana.
BILL MAGNUSSON:
00:01:41
What resources are left over to help this special little soul? Yours. Yeah.
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:01:52
Using an inheritance from his father, Bill bought the piano. Spent $15,000. He promised to tune it for the rest of his life and even paid for Jude to get professional lessons. Did you learn anything from the lessons, or did you teach the instructor? I learned a lot, like reading, reading music. So you can read music now? Yeah.
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:02:18
Since we first told his story, Jude, who's now 14, has appeared on talk shows and performed around the world, most recently in Saudi Arabia. He also has an album out. And again, all made possible by that selfless stranger, who isn't a stranger anymore. We're family now. Somebody to just love your son like that by making sure that his future is secured. We are super thankful, yeah. Press the pedal.
STEVE HARTMAN:
00:02:54
Caring for other children as your own, the defining note of humanity. Steve Hartman on the road in Aurora, Colorado.
