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The father of a man who has a quadriplegic cerebral palsy was left in tears after a lorry driver left an “amazing” gift for his disabled son. Darren Chesters takes his 27-year-old son Alex, who has the most severe form of cerebral palsy, to a bridge over the M6 in Stafford to watch the traffic go by and wave to drivers.
And Alex’s enthusiastic waves to passing drivers has not gone unnoticed – with one kind-hearted Royal Mail driver leaving a present for the father and son to find. The driver attached a Royal Mail truck model along with a sweet message to the bridge barrier so the pair would come across it the next time they visited.
On the front of the packaging, the driver had written: “For the dad and lad who watch the trucks” and on the back, he added: “I drive for Royal Mail and see you and your lad regularly and thought he might like his own. Have a nice day!”
Darren, who was so moved by the kind gesture he cried when he saw it, shared details of the interaction on Facebook – and the post quickly went viral, racking up more than 86,000 likes, 37,000 shares and over 5,000 comments. The 56-year-old explained he visits the Ash Flats Lane bridge in Stafford, above the M6, two or three times a week with Alex’s brother Will, 22, so they can wave at the passing vehicles.
Because red is Alex’s favourite colour, he is instantly drawn to the distinctive Royal Mail vehicles on the road and gets even more excited when he spots one, StokeonTrentLive reported. When the trio visited their usual spot on Saturday, September 17, they couldn’t believe someone had left a present for them.
Darren said: “This Royal Mail driver kept seeing us waving and he decided to buy Alex a Royal Mail truck of his own. When he was visiting family in Stafford he found the bridge and he cable tied it to the bridge with a note on it.
“I cried when I saw it and Alex was chuffed. I can’t believe someone has been that kind and thought to make Alex’s day even better, it’s amazing.
“He never asks for anything apart from going on the bridge. It makes his day and to me it’s part of his education because we are doing colours and identifying which vehicle it is.”
After sharing the heart-warming story on social media, Darren was overwhelmed with the response and people were full of praise for the driver. Alex’s family have thanked the driver for putting a smile on their son’s face.
Darren added: “His kindness has gone above and beyond. It’s restored my faith in humanity.
“Alex really doesn’t ask for much, the simplest things in life are the best. The driver has no idea how happy he has made my son and that makes us so happy.
“This weekend has been really overwhelming. We’ve been offered lots of other gifts and things, we’ve turned them down and asked if they could give money to charity instead.
“I am totally gobsmacked and it’s amazing how kind people are.”
