Man goes viral for carrying woman with cancer up stairs at a country music concert
A man at a Brad Paisley concert in Houston swept a woman off her feet — but not in the usual sense.
Instead, Thomas Harwell, 39, helped a woman down the stairs to her seat at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on March 16, and then back up up them when it was time to leave. Now, a photo of his good deed, posted on Facebook by his wife Shayla Harwell, has gone viral.
“Not only did he help get her to her seat, but she did not have the strength to come back up the stairs,” Shayla, 26, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “So, he carried her!”
The husband and wife, from Hardin, Tex., were waiting for the concert to start at the large arena when they noticed an older woman, accompanied by another adult and two kids, “having a rough time” getting to her seat. Turns out she had recently suffered from a stroke and was in the middle of battling cancer, ABC Houston reports.
“She was shaking and having trouble getting her feet to move from step to step,” Shayla tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I pointed them out to Thomas and said they may need help. He didn’t even hesitate!”
Thomas immediately walked over to the frail-looking woman, her grown daughter and two younger granddaughters to ask their permission to help. He then walked the woman down the steps to her seat before the show. When she didn’t have the strength to make it back up the steep stairs after the concert, Thomas decided to carry her.
Shayla was so proud of her husband, she shared a photo detailing the experience on Facebook.
“Y’all I have to brag on my husband big time tonight!” Shayla wrote on Facebook after the concert. “He made me Soo proud!“
Shayla’s post has since been shared over 1,800 times with many online praising her husband’s good deed.
“This is so awesome, we need more men like your husband please thank him from just another grandma in Texas!!” wrote one Facebook user.
“Another true southern gentleman. I wish more kids now a days showed the care and respect for the elderly like your husband did,” wrote another user. “God bless him and may y’all be blessed 10 fold for his actions.”
The Texas couple has been overwhelmed by the response online. According to Shayla, it was simply “the right thing to do,” as they hope to set a good example for their 2-year-old daughter, Savannah.
“Hopefully we can instill this kindness into her,” says Shayla. “That kindness should be a way of life!”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
• Manager’s act of kindness for gym-goer with Down syndrome goes viral
• Entrepreneur helps homeless transgender teen panhandling on highway: ‘Keep pushing, better days ahead’
• Disabled veteran ‘so incredibly grateful’ after teen girls find, return his lost wallet
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
