The family of an elderly woman who fell in a public park is praising a 14-year-old boy who ran to her aid and refused a gift of money for his kindness.
UPS worker Susan Perry, 57, and her mother, Patricia Perry, 79, live in Ashville, Ohio. Every day, the pair takes a walk in Ashville Park, whatever the weather. Ms. Patricia Perry—who has previously suffered a stroke and a severe fall and has had both her knees replaced—uses a rollator walking aid for support.
“Every day we try to walk the loop ... half a mile, maybe,” Ms. Susan Perry told The Epoch Times.
On Aug. 11, as Ms. Susan Perry and her mother were taking a walk, her mom ended up falling on the concrete and got a big bruise.
“We are getting close to like the baseball bench with a lot of rock, it was not really steady,” Ms. Susan Perry said. “I thought she was going to go to one side of the bench, and she wanted to go to the other.”
In an effort to help her, Ms. Susan Perry pushed the rollator, which unfortunately caused Ms. Patricia Perry to fall.
Amid the shock of the fall, a 14-year-old boy, named Daniel Hazzard, who was heading to the park to meet up with a few friends hurried over and offered to help.
“He was real gentle with my mom,” Ms. Susan Perry said. “He helped to pull her up and got her onto the rollator. I was going to have him get the car, but he doesn’t have his license, and I didn’t want him to get in trouble. ... So he stayed with her, and I ran and got the car. He helped get her in. He was just very kind.”
In order to thank Daniel for his kind deed, the mother-daughter pair offered him money, which he refused, telling them he just wanted to do “something nice.”
Daniel who studies at Teays Valley East Middle School told The Epoch Times that he doesn’t like to accept money from the elderly since “they need their money for bills, food, and gas.”
“I was glad to help her. ... I like helping people, especially elderly people,” Daniel said. “I’ve helped my grandma my whole life. I clean our house, I do dishes and stuff, I do our laundry.”
Ms. Patricia Perry is grateful to the kind-hearted teen.
“She said that, so many times, young people are getting a bad rap and are judged poorly, and this is probably one of the very many examples of outstanding young people,” Ms. Susan Perry said. “I ... feel exactly the same. I think that it’s an excellent example of what outstanding young people we have. He really was top-notch.”
Ms. Susan Perry describes her elderly mom as “the most strong, determined, and optimistic,” a woman who “lives every second of life” despite her limitations.
“I’m the one who has the fear of walking,” she said, “but I know it’s good for her, and thankfully she wants to do it. We’re trying to watch for when she gets tired, to rest however long, and really pay attention to that better.”
