Coca-Cola comes through with Jessie Arbogast medical fund.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. _ Simon Beveridge's fondness for soft drinks and friends paid off Tuesday when Coca-Cola followed through on its promise and donated $50,000 to the Jessie Arbogast Medical Fund.

A shark attacked Jessie, 8, last month in Florida.

The contribution stemmed from a comment Simon made in an interview that he hoped to win Coca-Cola's $1 million "Pop-The-Top" promotion so he could give the money to Jessie.

"The wrapper on the bottle said the winner would get $1 million. I knew if I could win it, I'd give it to him for his medical bills," said Simon, the 9-year-old son of Lici and Alastair Beveridge. "I haven't won yet, but this is nice for them to do. I was really scared I might lose him as a friend."

Coca-Cola officials heard about the wish and offered to match $50,000 in pledges made to the medical fund.

Representatives of Coke presented Simon with an oversized check in a brief ceremony on the Ocean Springs Parks and Recreation Department playground, where Jessie and Simon met over a year ago.

Mart Martin of Coca-Cola's corporate office in Atlanta said that the beverage giant was quick to respond to Simon's plea, just as the community was quick to match the pledge. It took just four days after Coke made the pledge for $50,000 to be ...