Strangers befriend a man with special needs after his mom offers to pay someone to be his friend. Earlier this month, Donna Herter made a plea on social media looking for someone she could hire to spend time with her 24-year-old son, Christian Bowers, who has Down syndrome. "I'm looking for a young man, between the ages of 20-28 who would like to make some extra money," Herter writes. "Two days a month for two hours, I'll pay you to be my son's friend. All you have to do is sit with him and play video games in his room. Nothing else."
Herter offered $80 for the two-hour “job” and insisted that the pay was not optional, because she wanted to guarantee that the person showed up. The post went viral, was shared nearly 60-thousand times and received over 25-thousand largely positive comments. Herter received an outpouring of kindness and offers to be Chrstian’s friend, free of charge, from people as far away as Australia and the U.K.
This weekend, Christian got a visit from Billy Mayhall, founder of the St. Louis nonprofit STL Youth Sports Outreach. He and his friend Derk Brown stopped by to deliver some presents they got for
Christian. With help from donors, they bought him a new 65-inch TV, a TV stand, a wireless sound bar, and snacks for gaming sessions. They also brought him tickets for a St. Louis Blues hockey game. Christian was blown away by the surprise visit and enjoyed hanging out with his new friends as they set up his new TV. “It’s big!” he says. “It’s like heaven.”
Source: People