Student surprises classmate who 'has been through a lot' with PlayStation 3 for Christmas in heartwarming video

Maggie Parker
A student helped make his classmate’s Christmas wish come true by getting him a PlayStation 3. (Photo: Getty Images)
A student helped make his classmate’s Christmas wish come true by getting him a PlayStation 3. (Photo: Getty Images)

Every year, high school student Darrian Hodsden gives back around the holiday season. This year, he presented a struggling classmate with a generous Christmas gift — and brought everyone watching the moment to tears.

Darrian shared a video on Facebook of himself entering a classroom at King George High School in Virginia. He puts a wrapped gift on the table and says, “Last week somebody mentioned a little something to me that he wanted for Christmas, and I thought I should get it for him. So, Thomas, I got you something, buddy.” He brings the box over to Thomas, who’s sitting in a chair.

Thomas unwraps the gift and is clearly stunned when he sees what’s inside: a PlayStation 3 and games. The gaming system can cost anywhere from $100 to $500. But Darrian didn’t care.

“This guy has been through a lot! I wanted him to know that someone was there for him,” Darrian wrote on Facebook. Darrian has been through a lot too.

Onlookers can be heard cooing and then clapping as Darrian and Thomas shake hands. “I’m crying!” a number of classmates say in the video.

The gift exchange took place on Monday. “I saw Darrian carrying a gift around most of the school day,” King George High School principal Jesse Boyd tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I said, ‘Darrian, you’ve been carrying that around all day long, what’s your plan?’ And he said about another student in the class — quiet guy, doesn’t really say much — ‘I asked him last week what he wanted for Christmas, so I went out and bought him a PS3.’ I said, ‘My gosh, that’s an expensive gift,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I wanted to do something nice for Christmas for him,’” Boyd recalls.

It looks like it was worth it because Thomas was clearly moved. “If you knew Thomas, the reaction in the video was priceless,” principal Boyd says. “You could tell it meant a lot to him. I could tell just by watching that he was overcome with emotion.”

Apparently, this thoughtful act isn’t out of character for Darrian. According to the local Fox affiliate, Darrian “finds a way to spread Christmas cheer for the less fortunate” every year.

“Darrian’s heart is so good. He’s taken the rough childhood he’s had and made himself into a successful young man despite it all,” Patty Hodsden, Darrian’s stepmother, told FOX 5. “He understand what it’s like to be without and what it’s like to fall on hard times, and instead of it making him bitter or troublesome, he’s allowed it to mold him into a beautiful human being.”

And it isn’t just this time of year that Darrian spreads kindness. “He’s constantly thinking about other people’s well-being,” Boyd says. “He’s a really nice, personable kid; he does a lot of stuff in the community and around the school. He’s in our Renaissance Club, which is kind of our way to acknowledge students and teachers who are doing really good things.”

Both students have gone through a lot for their age, Boyd shares. “Knowing these two men and their situations, it was truly an act of real kindness.”

Boyd says that Darrian has gone above and beyond this year. “Darrian has really come around, and particularly this year he’s gotten involved in some programs that we offer at the school. He’s the student representative at all the school board meetings. Our school board now requests him,” he says. “It’s my fourth year as principal. We’ve had a number of kids take that position, but Darrian’s the first one I know that’s been sought after by the board.”

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