There’s so much that many of us take for granted each and every day. Even the ability to walk around is something special to be savored and valued, as there are many people of all ages out there who, due to disease, genes, injury, or accidents, are unable to walk and confined to wheelchairs their whole lives.
Little Oliver Garza-Pena is one of those people. He’s nearly 2-years-old and he suffers from a condition known as caudal regression syndrome.
This condition means that the lower half of Ollie’s body hasn’t properly developed, so he needs to rely on a wheelchair to move around.
Oliver was born with this rare genetic defect and is learning to live with it as best he can, but each and every day, he sees countless other kids running, skipping, and walking with their friends and families, and he can’t help but feel left out.
But earlier this month, something wonderful happened that helped this brave young boy feel a little less different. The incident occurred at a Target store in Arizona, where Oliver was shopping with his parents.
They were browsing the store when Oliver suddenly stopped his mom, his eyes fixed on one of the store displays nearby. She looked around and saw what had captured his attention: it was a picture of a boy in a wheelchair, just like him.
Ollie’s mom later logged on to Facebook to share the incident with her friends and family, writing:
Today Oliver stopped me dead in his tracks and turned back around to see this picture that he spotted! He just stared at it in awe! He recognized another boy like him, smiling and laughing on a display at Target. Oliver sees kids every day, but he never gets to see kids like him. This was amazing!
Oliver’s mom was so happy to see a big chain like Target taking the time to make this inspiring move to help every kid feel valued and represented in their stores.
As she pointed out in her Facebook post, many stores are trying to do more to represent diverse people of all ethnicities and skin colors, but it’s also important for people with disabilities to feel represented too.
It’s so lovely to see the look on Oliver’s face as he gazes up at the picture. You can really see what this means to him and it’s just one more wonderful example of how representation can make people happy.
Amazingly, the story gets even better from there! Oliver’s story was seen and shared by tens of thousands of people on Facebook, eventually catching the attention of the boy from the original ad!
His name is Colton and he lives in Massachusetts, and Oliver’s mom later edited her message to include a special thank you just for him. Check out the full Facebook post down below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Thank you Target! 🎯😀👏 Today Oliver stopped me dead in his tracks and turned back around to see this picture that he…
Posted by Ollie’s World on Tuesday, 4 February 2020
