Just like that, a $360,000 burden was lifted from Tim Ward's shoulders following a year of tragedy.

When Ward lost both his wife and his house during a mudslide near Oso, Washington last year, his only comfort was a reunion with his faithful dog, Blue, who lost a leg after being trapped for three days under a tree.

Last week, things got a bit more comfortable after an anonymous donor sealed a deal to pay off of his entire mortgage. Ward was working with Chase's "special-cases unit" to negotiate a settlement of his loan when the mysterious benefactor swooped in to help.

"He said, ‘How much is the mortgage?' and said he wanted to pay it off," said Darcy Donohoe-Wilmot, a spokesperson for Chase Bank, where the donor does business.

Now, Ward is free to focus on his grief-support meetings, and training Blue to be a service dog, after it was noticed that the pup was a huge help to others in the group.

(READ the story, w/ photos, from the Seattle Times)

File photo by nSeika, CC / Story Tip From Judy Ritchie