The first day of school can be a scary experience, especially for a child who has never taken the bus home before.
Tom O’Brien, 15, was on his way home from his first day of school at Holy Family Catholic High School in Thornton, England when he noticed a younger boy crying on the bus. When Tom went over to the 11 year-old boy and asked him what was wrong, the child said that he had taken the wrong bus and was getting further and further away from his house.
The boy had gone into full panic mode because he had no cellphone and no money. Tom knew that he needed to do something to help the kid.
“It’s ok mate, don’t worry, you’ll be home soon,” Tom said as he pulled out a ten pound note from his pocket and gave it to the boy. Harry Campbell and Dylan Robson, who are in the same grade as the anonymous boy, also stepped up to help him.
Dylan pulled out his phone to look for taxi cab companies, and Tom called a taxi to ask him to meet them at the next stop. Harry and Dylan then got off the bus with the boy and rode to his home with him in the taxi.
When a local mother Ruth Furlong heard about what had happened, she took to social media to praise the boys for their kindness. Her post quickly went viral, touching the hearts of people all over the world
“Alls I know is his name is Tom and he’s a year 11 pupil at Holy Family so if anyone knows him or his parents, let them know what a lovely lad they’ve raised! Faith in humanity restored a little today,” Ruth wrote.
Tom’s sister Katie saw the post and wrote, “Ahhh everyone it was my little brother. I’ve just been tagged in this by a friend of mine who’s seen this status. We are so proud of Tom and it’s so lovely to know he’s a good lad in the outside world.”
Katie went on to say that their family was “all incredibly proud of him, as well as the two younger lads who helped,” adding that, “It is just so nice to see teenagers getting some good press for a change.”
“I am very proud of him,” Tom’s father said. “He is a very thoughtful lad and has a great personality. He didn’t tell me what had happened until later in the night when he realised people were talking about it on Facebook.”
“I would hope that if it was my son in the same situation, someone would have helped him,” Ruth added.
We applaud Tom, Dylan, and Harry for being good kids and helping their fellow classmate out.