An 11-year-old Texas youngster went looking for company and ended up making a lot of new pals all around the world.
Shayden Walker, of Amarillo, Texas, went to his neighbor’s house on July 3 to look for children his age. He stopped by and spoke with his neighbor using the family’s front door security camera.
“Um, I just wanted to see if you knew any kids around like 11 or 12, maybe,” the boy can be heard saying in the video. “I need some friends, like really bad.”
His neighbor, Brennan Ray, responded via the security camera and told him there were some kids nearby. But that wouldn’t do for Shayden. “They’re not my friends anymore because they’re bullies,” the boy said.
The two carried on a short conversation about whether Ray had kids of his own Shayden could play with. Ray’s daughter is just a toddler though, he told the boy.
The interaction prompted Ray to post the video on TikTok, hoping to connect with the boy’s family.
“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. So TikTok can we help Shayden make some friends?” Ray captioned the video.
“I figured I could post it and some local people would see it and help me connect to them,” he said.
The post garnered nearly 69 million views.
his mother, Krishna Patterson said that “Shayden has undergone a series of diagnoses, including autism, oppositional defiant disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and others”
Her son has had a hard time maintaining friendships and sometimes has “meltdowns” that include crying and accidentally hurting himself and other people who try to calm him down, she said.
“Shayden has been manipulated and bullied,” Patterson said. “When he has these meltdowns, people are like ‘We don’t want our kids to hang out with your kid.’”
What made the 11-year-old take such bold steps?
Shayden went to the Rays’ house because he really needed new friends, he told USA TODAY.
“I just really wanted to get to know these people,” he said.