How a Bunch of Strangers on the Internet Helped 1 Grieving Mom

If you thought Reddit was a nefarious subsect of the internet reserved for low-brow viral memes and YouTube videos of dogs in costumes, you'll be overjoyed to discover its latest use was far more consequential.

A grieving mother took to the social networking site to share a video of her late son performing at his school. The video of Nathan singing "Wayfaring Stranger" became especially meaningful to Angela McElhiney after the 15-year-old committed suicide in October — however, she struggled to hear him over the clip's distracting background noises.

So she uploaded footage on YouTube and shared the video on Reddit in the hopes of getting tips or perhaps a referral to a service that could help improve the sound quality.

Instead of merely pointing her in the right direction, the kind strangers of Reddit sent along condolences, words of encouragement, and fully revised audio clips, straight from audio engineers, professional musicians, and movie sound editors across the globe.

"There were a lot of people who said 'I don't really know what I'm doing, but here's my best shot at it,'" she told CNN of the outpouring of help.

After thousands reached out, she ended up with roughly 20 new, improved versions of the song. She said: "I never expected so much kindness and so many people taking time out of their day."

Thank you, internet. You aren't so bad after all.