Ricky Derouen was pumping iron at Planet Fitness in Pascagoula, Mississippi when a startling act of kindness happened right in front of him.
Derouen witnessed a young man with special needs attached at the hip to an apparent stranger. The young man “constantly approached him about 10 different times in a 45 minute time span with handshakes, hugs, questions, and interactions.”
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Instead of brushing the young man off, the athlete proved his heart of gold.
Not only did this man smile, laugh, give him workout advice multiple times, and joke back with him while getting in his own workout, but he didn’t care who was watching while doing it…..his patience, compassion, and friendliness was next level admirable.
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This went on for quite a while as Derouen watched the scene in wonder, “Towards the end of the workout the special needs man approached me and pointed to the man in the orange shirt and said ‘that’s my friend’ with a huge smile on his face.”
Derouen snapped a few pictures of the heartwarming encounters he decided to take to Facebook to share the story – and hopefully find ‘the man in orange’ to thank him for his actions.
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Derouen’s post quickly went viral. After an astounding 50,000 shares the man in orange, David Samuel, was finally found. Though Samuel has stayed quiet after outed for his act of kindness, people from all over the world lauded him with praise.
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It’s amazing how such a simple act of kindness can change the world. Samuel didn’t go to any extreme to make the young man feel welcome. He did not document his friendliness firsthand. He simply decided to be nice to a stranger who obviously wanted to be friends. Be like David Samuel!
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