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Name: Tom Sacco

Role/Connection: Rider and Supporter

Country: Australia

From the Dark to the Light: Tom Sacco’s Ride to Purpose

At Hands Across the Water, we often say we ride to change lives. But sometimes, the life that changes first is your own. For Tom Sacco, that couldn’t be more true.

Tom’s journey with Hands didn’t begin with a bike or a fundraising goal. It began with a silent struggle, a fight to make sense of life, connection, and purpose. In 2019, before ever stepping onto the road in Thailand, Tom was navigating a deep personal darkness. He was young, adrift, and, by his own words, losing sight of why he was here.

“I just felt completely alone,” Tom says. “Disconnected from my family, from the world, from myself. I couldn’t see a way out. I was in a really bad place.”
That’s when something shifted.
Through his dad, Tom heard about the Digital Live Bike Ride. It seemed like an enormous challenge, but something inside him said: give it a go. And with that simple decision, a new path opened up.

That 500km ride through Thailand would mark a turning point in Tom’s life, a ride that didn’t just raise money for children’s homes, but raised him up from the weight of hopelessness.

“It’s hard to explain what happened on that ride,” Tom reflects. “Bit by bit, every pedal stroke pulled me further out of the darkness. Listening to Steve and Claire share stories, watching the way the riders supported each other… it cracked me open.”
One moment in particular changed everything.

“I remember riding beside one of the kids from Home Hug. We didn’t speak the same language, but something about the connection we shared, just riding together in silence—hit me. I hadn’t felt connected like that in a long time.”

And then came the moment he’ll never forget: riding into Home Hug at the end of the ride.
And then came the moment he’ll never forget: riding into Home Hug at the end of the ride.“It broke me in the best way. Seeing the kids there, the joy in their faces, knowing how little they had but how grateful they were… it was overwhelming. It opened my heart and completely flipped my view of the world.”

But the ride didn’t just connect Tom to the kids, it reconnected him to his own father.

“We barely spoke before that. Our relationship was basically non-existent. But sharing that experience, going through something that big together, it rebuilt something between us.”
Today, they not only speak, they work together every day. That renewed relationship became one of the many lasting gifts Hands gave him.

“I honestly don’t think that would’ve happened without the ride. Hands didn’t just give me a reason to get out of bed, it gave me back my family.”

Tom’s story isn’t one of overnight change. It’s one of quiet transformation, of a young man finding purpose by fighting for someone else’s future.

“There’s no overstating it, Hands saved my life. I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t gone on that ride. And that’s why I keep coming back. That’s why I’ll never stop fighting for these kids.”

Since that first ride, Tom has returned to Thailand multiple times. Even during the pandemic, when travel was impossible, his commitment never wavered. As soon as the opportunity came again, he returned to the road and to the homes that had stolen his heart.

For Tom, the contrast between the world he left behind and the world he found with Hands is stark.
“In our day-to-day lives, we see people take so much for granted. And then you go to these homes and see how grateful these kids are for the smallest things. It changes you. It makes you want to be better.”

That fire, the one reignited in 2019, still burns bright. And now, he rides not just to heal himself, but to help others heal too.

“I’ll keep riding for as long as I can. Because these kids deserve the same shot at life that I was lucky enough to get.”
When asked what he’d say to someone who’s feeling lost, like he once was, Tom doesn’t hesitate.

“Say yes. Say yes to something bigger than yourself. That’s what Hands is. It’s not just a ride, it’s a community, a family, a lifeline. You don’t have to have it all together. You just have to show up.”

Because that’s what Tom did. He showed up. And in doing so, he discovered the truth behind the Hands mantra:

It’s not just about changing the lives of kids in Thailand. It’s about changing your own life, too.

And for Tom Sacco, that change is still unfolding—on the road, on the ride, in every moment he chooses hope over despair.

“Hands gave me a reason to keep going,” he says simply. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life giving back.”
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