An unexpected act of kindness has garnered the attention of hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook lately. One photo has been shared over 200,000 times and has over 440,000 reactions.
A woman named Paula Accorsi Picard from Holyoke, Massachusetts witnessed an event at her local mall that touched her heart — and subsequently the hearts of many others.
Paula took to Facebook to describe the heartwarming scene. An elderly gentleman was standing at the top of an escalator. He appeared hesitant to go on, and Paula was looking from afar to see what was going to happen.
It was at this moment that a young man passing by immediately stepped in to see if he could help the 83-year-old man. They stared at one another for a moment, gauging the situation.
It was with six simple words that many people’s faith in humanity would be restored, “can I help you on, sir?”
At that moment, the young man grabbed the elderly gentleman’s arm and assisted him down the escalator. The man explained that he had once been stuck on one and was a bit scared of them. Paula snapped a picture of this incredible moment.
It turns out that the young man’s name is Alonzo Johnson. He’s 23-years-old, and he clearly has a heart of gold. He didn’t think twice about stepping in and helping someone in need. And ever since Paula posted the picture and story on Facebook — he’s become quite the celebrity.
After gaining the attention of hundreds of thousands of people, Alonzo has been getting praised by the masses.
“This is something I’ve never dealt with before and it’s so, like, humbling. But it’s a lot. But I’m embracing it. It’s something very unexpected. My family and I are constantly looking at the Facebook posts and seeing the attention,” Alonzo said in a phone interview with MassLive.
Alonzo says that he made small talk with the man to keep his mind off of the anxiety, but he never got his name. He did, however, make sure to compliment him before parting ways.
“I told him — and he did, he looked very nice — I said, ‘You look nice,'”
Paula’s Facebook post about Alonzo’s kindness continues to spread like wildfire — and hopefully so does his attitude. We need more acts of kindness like this in the world today.
Alonzo credits his compassion to his mother, and we’d like to thank her too.
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