A teen fast food worker has received praise from people across the Internet for his moving show of compassion.
Kailen Young, 17, who works at a Hardee's franchise in Knoxville, Tennesee, was washing the windows of the restaurant earlier this month when he stopped to walk Bobbi Clare, an elderly woman, across the parking lot to her car, WBIR reported.
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Photo of Kailen Young helping Bobbi Clare to her car, which went viral.
The act of kindness was spotted by David Yardley, a passerby who took a picture of the scene and posted it to the Hardee's Facebook page. It went viral with more than 16,000 likes and over 4,000 shares as of Thursday afternoon. But people on social media aren't the only ones touched by Young's actions.
"I felt a little touch of heaven, that kindness and goodness in the world," Clare told the WBIR of the teen's help. "We need that so much, don't we?"
Yardley told The Huffington Post that he was at a gas station across the street from the pair and had already started to drive away when he witnessed Young take Clare by the hand and assist her. Yardley said the image was so striking, he pulled over to snap the picture.
"It spoke volumes. Black and white, male and female, young and old, all came together in one photo," Yardley told HuffPost. "It was just a tender moment. ... At the end of the day, it was a young person having enough compassion to help to help an older person."
The onlooker told HuffPost that he has gotten messages from people as far as Singapore, expressing appreciation for Yardley's photo and Young's actions.
The teen, on the other hand, thinks that what he did isn't anything out of the ordinary.
"Some people say they view it as rare, and I was surprised by that, because it's just a normal thing for me," Young told the WBIR. "Going through reading the comments, it's been very humbling, very heartwarming."
Young's good deed did not go unappreciated. Hardee's rewarded the 17-year-old with a $1,000 check for his kindness.
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