A teenager has saved up for two years to buy his best mate an electric wheelchair after noticing he was struggling to get around school.
Brandon Qualls, of Caddo Hills High School in Norman, Arkansas, US, was using a manual wheelchair which left his arms aching after a long day of classes, during which he’d have to take regular rests.
So his friend, Tanner Wilson, decided to help out and save up for a new set of wheels for Brandon in a meaningful mission which took three years.
In secret, Tanner set about getting a part-time job which he diligently worked for a few years before he’d saved enough money to make the life-changing purchase.
Despite his efforts, the young man has remained amazingly humble about the gesture and said he simply wanted to help Brandon, after he’d been a ‘really good friend’.
Tanner told KARK about his seemingly selfless act:
He’s just been a really good friend and I wanted to do him a favor. I just felt like I needed to do it and I wanted to do it.
For the past three years I’ve wanted to get him one and I mean, I’ve been trying.
There’s many people out here that have troubles and need a little bit of help. Sometimes they can’t do it for themselves.
The new electric wheelchair allows Brandon to manouvre the hallways at school with the aid of buttons, rather than relying on the strength in his arms to direct his movement.
The student – who teachers say is always this kind and thoughtful – said all his efforts were worth it just to see how happy he’d managed to make his mate.
Of the moment he realised what his friend had done, Brandon said:
They came in and my face just blew up…crying everywhere. [I was] just like, ‘Wow, can’t believe he did that for me!’
One of the teachers at the boys’ school, Ginger Wray, even hooked Brandon up with some orange flames down the side of his new ride.
She recalled how happy the staff were for Brandon, adding:
When he came by I said ‘Brandon, you got to have some flames on there because you’re going to be buzzing down these halls in no time!’ So I went home and made him some flames.
Moral of the story? Get yourself a bestie like Tanner Wilson and Brandon Qualls.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.