A video on TikTok went viral of an 11-year-old Texas boy going door-to-door looking for friends.
Shayden Walker had no idea that ringing the Ray family’s doorbell would change his life.
The Rays decided to post the door bell camera interaction they had with Shayden on TikTok, and it quickly blew up. At last check the video had nearly 70 million views.
The Ray family also decided to start a GoFundMe for Shayden with a goal of $7,000. It has gone on to raise nearly $40,000.
Shayden said he plans to donate a lot of it to charity, but some of it will allow for him to get some new stuff for the upcoming school year and other things he enjoys.
Shayden’s mother, Krishna Patterson, said this isn’t about the money, but drawing attention to the issues of bullying and teaching people to show kindness to those with all abilities.
Patterson said Shayden has struggled with making and keeping friends, and has attention-deficit hyperactivitydisorder, oppositional defiant disorder and is on the autism spectrum. She said these factors contribute to him being bullied.
“What my life was like before was kids were manipulating me and telling me they would be my friend, but when they would ask me to do something horrible, I don’t feel like they’re actually my friend,” Shayden said.
Before going viral, Shayden’s mother said he didn’t have the confidence to be himself.
“He stims very hard, he flaps his arms, and he makes noises that a lot of people have made fun of him, so he told me, ‘I just deal with the pain of holding it in, so that I don’t get made fun of because of it,’ and that hurt, that broke my heart,” Patterson said.
After the viral video, Shayden said his confidence has “gone through the roof.”
Brennan Ray, who shared the video, said he wants other kids to step up like Shayden did.
“It just takes one person, especially if you’re a popular kid, people look up to you, if you can be the one to stand out and help somebody else, set that trend, make that the trend to be set to not be a bully,” Ray said.
Patterson said she hopes more children will be inspired by Shayden’s story.
“My kid, he’s been hospitalized because the bullying was so bad and he felt so isolated. If you see it just advocate for that person, just be there for that person, do not let that person suffer,” Patterson said.
Shayden said he wants everyone to take this message away from his actions.
“How would you like it if someone were to bully you? How would that make you feel?” he said.
