Apple Store Employee's Moment of Compassion for Boy With Autism Goes Viral

One Apple employee’s kind deed has earned him praise all over the internet.

LynnMarie Rink and her son James were at the Apple Store in Green Hills, Tennessee, on Thursday, Jan. 21, buying a new iPad. James, 9, has autism and Down syndrome, and the iPad helps him communicate.

All of a sudden, something caught James’s attention outside the store and he tried to run outside but ran straight into a clear glass wall instead. He hit his head on the glass and then again on the floor when he fell, according to LynnMarie Rink’s Facebook post. Everyone in the store witnessed James’s fall.

That’s when Apple employee Andrew Wall came over and asked what he could do to help. He joined Rink and James on the floor where he proceeded to set up the boy’s new iPad.

Rink posted a message of gratitude on Facebook, along with a picture she took of Wall and James together.

  “There are no words to accurately describe how grateful I am that he took the time to ‘meet us right where we were,'” Rink wrote in her Facebook post. “He didn't have to sit down on the floor with us. He could have easily waited for us to stand. [He] could have easily waited for us to come back another day. But he hung out with us in the midst of our pain… That moment reminded me that there are good people in this world and that there will always be people to care for James.” Rink was eventually able to connect with Wall via Facebook and she says Wall told her he hopes to pursue a career in youth counseling some day.

James came down with a cold. We are snowed in and no school. The only thing that has saved us is his new iPad! This is how I found him a few minutes ago. (I finally got some cold meds in him that made him drowsy!) and get this, my Lynnmarie Facebook page has 350,000 people who viewed yesterday's post! And 2,300 shares! Holy schmoly! If you haven't yet please read the story of James at the Apple Store! Www.facebook.com/lynnmariepage #BeKindToOneAnother

A photo posted by @lynnrink on Jan 23, 2016 at 2:21pm PST

Since Rink posted the message and photo to Facebook, it's been shared more than 9,000 times.