When five teenage boys spotted an elderly man walking alone, they immediately approached the helpless gentleman. However, the teens had no idea that a watchful neighbor had fortunately caught them on camera.
In the small town of Caldwell, Idaho, there’s hardly anything you can do without catching the attention of someone. So, when Erika Tovar was driving down the street and witnessed a group of teen boys hastily jump out of their vehicle and approach Jose Gomez, she hurriedly recorded the incident.
The five boys had reportedly spotted Gomez strolling along the sidewalk with his walker before pulling over, exiting the vehicle, and running over to the senior citizen. It was then that Tovar captured their deeds on camera, intent on getting them identified and bringing attention to their actions.
Despite using the aid of his walker, Gomez had fallen on the concrete and injured his leg, which the teens had apparently witnessed. As such, the boys pulled over and exited the car, rushing over to the elderly gentleman. They helped Gomez to his feet, escorted him home arm-in-arm, and cleaned up and cared for the man’s wounds.
Gomez had reportedly fallen just before the boys pulled their car up beside him. Besides hurting his pride, the senior citizen suffered a bloodied and bruised knee. With no way to get up and walk home without injuring himself again, Gomez was relieved when the most unlikely heroes came to his aid. They were high schoolers Victor Ornelas, Isaac Hernandez, Diego Ramirez, Devan Ornelas, and Josh Sorg, KTVB reports.
“I saw that he fell so I stepped on my brakes,” Hernandez said. “We parked and we all ran out. We picked him up and we asked if he was okay, he said he was fine. So we just kept walking with him. We said we were going to walk him all the way to his house. We helped him inside, and his knee was bleeding. So, we grabbed napkins put alcohol on it and cleaned him up.”
Jose Gomez couldn’t believe his eyes as the teen boys gathered around him. He was incredibly grateful when they offered to help him up and take him to his apartment, ensuring that he didn’t fall again.
“I was just falling down I don’t know what happened,” Gomez said. “They picked me up. I was walking just right and then sadly I went down, and they come up and say hey, want us to take you home and I said okay, let’s go. It made me feel good.”
Neither Gomez nor his secret helpers knew that Tovar was recording their every move. Once she shared their selfless deed on Facebook, the post went viral, prompting an outpouring of praise. However, the boys insist that they didn’t want the recognition and were merely doing what is right.
“Crazy how it blew up. We didn’t do it for the attention, we just did it out of the kindness of our hearts. It’s just the right thing to do,” Hernandez said.
In an age when such acts of kindness are rarely reported amid the doom and gloom news, the Caldwell community sprang into action. Wanting to honor their hometown heroes, owner Kathy Plaisance put together a small ceremony for the boys at Sweet Spot Bakery, presenting them with gift cards from local businesses.
“We got them cupcakes and cookies with their names on it and cookies that say hometown heroes because that’s how we feel about them. They are hometown heroes for Caldwell,” Plaisance said.
Gomez again thanked the boys for their compassion, saying, “They remind me of myself when I was younger.” The teens explained they will continue to keep in touch with the elderly gentleman.
“He likes that we go and check up on him, and talk to him, ask him how his day was,” Hernandez said.
The boys reiterate that they don’t particularly enjoy all the attention and praise for their actions. In fact, they believe that it should be more commonplace for people to care for their fellow man instead of looking to take advantage of people.
“I think it makes us all feel good because we are out here helping other people… and we don’t expect anything in return,” Hernandez said.
During a time when bad news rules the airways, it’s refreshing to see such diverse demographics come together not only to do something good but without expecting to be rewarded for it. It’s that mentality that deserves even more applause and recognition.