Earlier this week, Rocio Yanira Sandoval and her husband, Juan, were celebrating his birthday in Disney's Magic Kingdom.
On their way out, they spotted a father pushing a teenage boy in a wheelchair. The dad was wearing a white T-shirt with a very important message sprawled across it.
“In need of kidney O Positive call 917-597-2651."
Obviously, when the husband and wife read the back of the shirt, they immediately wanted to help out by sharing the message online.
Going up to the father, Juan asked if they could snap a picture to share online, “this man turned around with the biggest smile, so grateful and said ‘Yes, please!’
“He gave us both a hug and said: ‘Thank you, please share this with the world’.”
Rocio and Juan assumed the plea was for the teenager in the wheelchair. And being parents themselves felt empathy with this dad and the special T-shirt.
However, when Rocio called the number on the back of the T-shirt, she was shocked to learn who the kidney is actually for.
“I called the number to notify the family of how many times this post has been shared. The man in the picture is Robert, he is the one that is in need of the kidney,” Rocio wrote.
“I had assumed the child in the wheelchair was the one in need, but really it is his dad.”
Robert, a father-of-five, was worried that no one would want to donate if they thought the kidney was for an adult and not a child.
However, Rocio made a very valid point, highlighting that the original post where it is implied the kidney is for the child was meant to help a family.
And whether it’s for Dad or Son, it is “still a very worthy cause.”
Rocio, who put the post on her personal Facebook page, initially thought the photo would garner a few hundred shares. However, in the short time it has been up, it has been shared more than 83K times.
And more importantly, Robert has received 200 messages from people willing to help him out.
“The response has been absolutely amazing. I get very emotional about it,” the single father told ScaryMommy.
“Over a million people have seen it already, and the calls keep coming in… from all over the country, which is amazing.
