A young man in Pocatello, Idaho, who has endured some tough things is celebrating his birthday and Christmas with help from a Secret Santa.
Marshall has a big heart and loves spending time with his friends, East Idaho News reported Friday.
A few years ago, Marshall lost his best friend, Nicholas, who had an illness called Vanishing White Matter disease. The illness is a result of a faulty gene, per the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Although Nicholas was in a wheelchair and Marshall has Down syndrome, the two friends had planned to be roommates in the future. They also shared a birthday, December 13, and losing Nicholas has made it hard for Marshall to celebrate on that day.
In addition, Marshall experienced another difficult situation not long ago when he was riding the bus to work and someone used a derogatory slur toward him. The incident made Marshall refuse to ride the bus for a while until recently.
When Secret Santa heard his story, he wanted to do something special to make sure Marshall knows there are good people in the world and that he is loved. Therefore, he sent the outlet’s Nate Eaton to surprise Marshall with a birthday cake, $200 in movie gift cards, and $500 for restaurants.
The young man’s face beamed with joy when he opened his front door and saw Eaton standing there.
“Thank you, guys,” Marshall said after opening the movie gift cards. When opening the restaurant gift cards, Eaton told him he was going to have tons of fun using the $500 for food.
“Will that last you, what, two days?” Eaton asked him, to which Marshall replied, “Two days” then laughed.
“That dude has the sweetest heart I’ve ever seen,” one social media user replied to the video, while another person said, “I truly believe our friends with down syndrome are really angels among us.”