Watch: 2 children help New York boy with cerebral palsy navigate through water park

Children know how to help out a friend in need.

>> Read more trending news

A video that tugs at the heartstrings was posted last week on social media. Two children are shown helping their 6-year-old friend, a boy with cerebral palsy, navigate through a water park in upstate New York.

The video, posted by Mikaila Ryan on Twitter, was originally filmed by her mother, Andrea Mackey, and posted to Facebook, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported. Jeffrey Mackey, 6, was with his family at the Thunder Island water park in Fulton when his muscles began to tighten up, WSTM reported.

"When he gets cold, it makes his muscles tighter, making it harder for him to keep up," Andrea Mackey told the Post-Standard. "When he's at a water park, he gets colder because the water is cold."

That's when a pair of Jeffrey's 5-year-old friends, Kane Raymond and Raya Joyce, stepped in to help. The two children encouraged Jeffrey to keep moving and walked with him to the water slide, WSTM reported.

"They stopped and waited for him every time," Andrea Mackey told the Post-Standard. "They helped him walk up the ramp to the water slide, and they waited for him at the bottom of the slide. They did this all day long."

Mackey began recording when Raya held Jeffrey’s hand and continued as Kane held Jeffrey's other hand, the newspaper reported. The trio walked the path to the water slide with ease.

"They stuck by him all day," Mackey told the Post-Standard. "It was heartwarming."

Mackey posted the video on Facebook two days after going to the park. Ryan, her 19-year-old daughter, posted it to Twitter and it has been viewed more than 7.3 million times and received more than 522,000 likes.

Mackey said she was moved by the children's act of kindness and the response it received.

"In that moment right there, it was justification that I know he'll be OK," Mackey told WSTM. "I know he'll have somebody that will always have his back, and those are just two little amazing kids that did it all by themselves, nobody told them to, they took it upon themselves and it was amazing to see."

About the Author