Neighbor heard a knock on his door and saw a boy asking, 'I need some friends' - the reason broke his heart

Reaching out to someone in kindness can be one of the best things to experience. Friendship earned through selflessness and thoughtfulness always remains invaluable and precious. When Brennan Ray (@brennanray) heard a knock on his door, he didn’t expect to have the heartbreaking conversation he did, as per USA Today. However, he also didn't expect to have the most wholesome experience of his life. An 11-year-old boy, Shayden Walker, arrived at Ray’s door and asked for something unusual - friends. Ray was disheartened to hear the boy’s plight and came up with a sweet solution to give him the one-of-a-kind friendship that he deserved. 

“I just wanted to see if there are any kids here, you know, 10 or 11 years old. I need friends, like really bad,” Walker explained to Ray, who was speaking through the door’s camera. The boy chose Ray’s house after having an interaction with their dog. “I just wanted to get to know these people,” he said. When Ray suggested the boy walk to the neighboring house with two kids, Walker revealed something more upsetting. “They’re not friends to me, they’re bullies,” he remarked, revealing that he was also being bullied by kids in the neighborhood. Ray broke into a conversation with Walker after sharing that he had a daughter, who was just 2 then. “I love two-year-olds,” the boy sweetly said. 

After a few minutes, Ray assured the youngster that he would wave at him if he saw him on the road. Walker felt “really good” about his interaction and from thereon, hope was ignited in the little boy. Ray was moved after seeing the heartbreaking loneliness the little boy had to encounter. “I could tell that he was being genuine. I could tell that he was hurt,” he said, reported The Washington Post. In his caption, Ray wrote, “You never know what people are going through until you get a chance to talk to them. This young man is well-mannered, kind, and brave.” He further requested people on the internet to help find friends for Walker. 

“I figured I could post it and some local people would see it and help me connect to them,” he mentioned. As the story blew up, it was learned that Walker had autism, oppositional defiant disorder, and bipolar disorder, among other diagnoses. It was not easy handling these conditions and it left the boy lonely and without friends. Ray set up a GoFundMe page to help with treatments and other necessities and collected $37,000 swiftly. Out of his goodwill, Walker even decided to donate some of the money to a children’s hospital. 

 After Ray put his best foot forward to help Walker, people from all over the world joined the initiative to befriend him. People from different countries, including China, Hawaii and England, heard his story and connected with him. Even Ray often visited the boy. “We have built such a strong friendship in such a short amount of time. We just basically feel like we’re going to be family forever,” Ray’s wife Angell said. “He is a beautiful soul. His happiness is infectious and his smile is infectious. He's a good kid,” Ray remarked.

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