If someone, especially a child, appeared on your doorstep one day in need, would you help them? In this story from AmoMama, that’s just what happened to Heather Graham. She showed the starving little boy on her porch compassion. A decade later, he repaid her kindness. This is their story.
Helping Those In Need
Heather Graham was no stranger to helping those in need. A happily married mother, she was an active fundraiser for several charities in her community. Though she had raised plenty of money over the years to help those in need, she was rarely face-to-face with those she was helping. That is, until one day when she heard a gentle knocking on her front door.
When Hunger Comes Calling
Heather opened the door to find something rather surprising on her porch. A young boy, about 10 years old, was standing there. He was quite thin and his skin was frighteningly pale. He looked like it had been some time since he’d had a bath and his clothes were looking a bit worn. Heather smiled at him and said hello.
“Miss,” the boy said, faintly. “Please, miss…”
Before he could say anything more, he swayed slightly to the side and then fainted. Shocked and scared, Heather called out to her husband to help her carry the boy to the sofa. Her husband suggested that they call an ambulance and also the police. Heather asked him if they could first wait until he woke up to learn his story. Her husband agreed and they let the boy sleep.
An Unexpected Story
The boy woke up a little while later. First, Heather reassured him that he was okay. After all, waking up in a stranger’s home would be scary for anyone, but especially for a child. Heather explained to him that he had fainted and asked if he was sick. The boy then began to cry.
“I’m hungry, miss,” he whispered. “I haven’t eaten in three days, and no one will give me any food. I asked every house on this block and they said I was a beggar…”
Heather could see that the poor little boy felt so ashamed. Asking strangers for food was clearly not something he was used to having to do nor something that he wanted to do. Heather told him not to worry, that she was just about to eat herself. She brought him to the kitchen to make him a sandwich.
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Bastian
She poured him a glass of milk and made him a big roast chicken sandwich. Instructing him to eat slowly so he wouldn’t make himself sick, she asked the little boy what his name was. He replied, telling her name was Sebastian, but all of his friends simply called him Bastian. Her next question was why he had been going door to door asking for food. His response shocked her even more.
“My mom’s in the hospital, and there’s no one here to take care of me. I ran out of food…But I couldn’t ask anyone like the police or my teachers for help, or they would call Child Services and they would take me away.” he explained.
Incredulous, Heather told him that it wasn’t okay and that he needed to ask for help. After all, she reminded him, he wouldn’t know how long his mother would be in the hospital for. That’s when he begged her not to call anyone. Explained to her that his grandmother was on her way, but she wasn’t arriving until the next day.
“My gran’s coming, but she will only be here tomorrow. It’s just that I was so hungry, I thought I was going to die…” he said.
A Place To Stay For The Night
Heather got Bastian’s grandmother’s phone number from him and called her to let her know that Bastian would be staying with her for the night. She gave the woman her address so that she could come and pick Bastian up from her house the next day. The young boy had dinner with her family and a safe, warm place to sleep. Sure enough, the next day his grandmother came and picked him up.
10 Years Later
Heather never saw or heard from Bastian again after that. From time to time, she wondered how he was doing. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time to worry about other people anymore. She was having kidney problems and her doctors said that without a replacement, she would die. What was worse, is that Heather had a rare blood type. Neither of her children nor her husband were a match. She had no other close family or friends with the same blood type. Losing hope, she began making peace with what little time she thought she had left.
Her daughter, however, had not given up hope. She put out a call on social media to find someone who had a matching blood type who might be willing to help save her mother’s life. Luckily, a man came forward with just what they needed who wanted to help.
A few days later, both Heather and the donor went to the hospital to have the transplant. Heather asked her doctors if she could speak with her donor before the procedure. The nurses wheeled her into his room so they could chat.
When she saw the young man, she explained to him how overwhelmed with gratitude she was. She couldn’t believe that he would give her such a gift. Furthermore, she said she didn’t know how she could ever repay him for his kindness.
“Repay me?” the man replied. “But Mrs. Graham, I’m repaying YOU! Ten years ago I was starving, and you saved my life. You may not have realized it but that kindness and that sandwich meant the world to me!”
Heather couldn’t believe it: Her donor was Bastian! The little boy she’d helped all those years ago. After they woke up from their surgeries, they asked to be placed in the same recovery room. They chatted like the old friends they were. Their story proves that when you show kindness to others, that kindness will come back to you ten-fold.
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