The Story Behind This Viral Photo of Kindness

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The rain was pouring — heck, it was coming sideways — when Aaron Sanders, a bagger at a Canton, Ohio, grocery store, extended a simple offer to an elderly woman. 

“I asked her if I could help her out and she said no a couple of times, said I don’t want you getting wet,” he tells WLOS-TV. “And I just said I prefer if I helped you out. And then she said OK.”

With an umbrella in one hand to shield them from the elements, Sanders guided the woman to her car. She then put her arm around him to help keep him dry.

The moment in the middle of a torrential downpour was captured by Sanders’s coworker on her cell phone, and that simple act of kindness caught the attention of social media world. The image, posted to Violet Baiera’s Facebook page, has now gone viral with thousands of likes.

Sanders didn’t do it for accolades, though. It was just the right thing to do given the circumstances. 

“I want to say thank you to everybody who’s commented and liked this photo,” he tells the TV station. “I come from a hard past with just my mother. She’s the reason I am what I am. I’ve never had a father figure in my life so all the credit goes to her, and she cried seeing what all you kind people had to say about this. I thank you all once again. I hope this puts a smile on your face as it does mine.”

Knowing that his gesture struck a nerve with people, he later said, “With all the attention, I still try to be humble you know, it’s my job. It’s what I like to do. I like helping people whenever they need help.  And I’d do it all over again.”

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