One of the most common stereotypes of young people today is that they’re terrible with money. People of an older generation love to go on about how they blow all their cash on avocado toast.
Well, this young man has shown that some young people spend their money on incredibly important things.
Tanner Wilson is a senior in high school.
Like many other kids his age, he has a weekend job to get some extra cash.
Unlike many other kids, however, Wilson has spent all of his earnings on something that won’t benefit him. Instead, it benefits his best friend.
Wilson and his best friend, Brandon Qualls, attend Caddo Hills High School in the state of Arkansas.
Both go from one class to another. But until recently, this was a struggle for Qualls.
Qualls uses a wheelchair to get around.
Steering a manual wheelchair from one end of campus to another was an incredibly tiring exercise for Qualls.
“My arms would get really tired. I would have to stop and take rests,” said Qualls.
It seemed like Qualls would have to put up with the strain of wheeling himself through the high school until graduation. He couldn’t possibly afford a better chair.
But Wilson was determined to help.
“I wanted to do him a favor. I just felt like I needed to do it,” said Wilson.
Wilson had always been handy, and he got himself a part-time job at a mechanic store in town.
But the strange thing, to Qualls, was that despite Wilson having this job, he never seemed to have much money spend on video games and other teenage essentials.
Wilson always made an excuse, saying that he had to pay his parents rent. But in truth, the lack of spending money was for Qualls’s benefit.
After two years of saving and saving, Wilson finally had enough cash to get his best friend something that would make his life much easier: an electric wheelchair.
Right up until the day that Wilson presented his best friend with the wheelchair, Qualls had no idea he would get the gift.
And then, in February 2019, Wilson presented Qualls with the chair. The High School Celebrated The Moment On Facebook:
Reflecting on the moment, Qualls later said: “They came in. My face just blew up. I was just crying everywhere. Wow, I can’t believe you did that for me.”
After this, all that was left to do was customize Qualls’s new chair. Within a few hours of being given the device, Qualls’s teacher had already created flaming decals on the wheels and a matching decal of Qualls’s name on the back of the chair.
Qualls is certainly lucky to have as good a friend as Wilson.
Who can say that they’ve ever had a friend who would do something so selfless for them?
Getting adjusted to the new machine may take Qualls a bit of time, but on the whole, it has made his life much, much easier. Now, thanks to Wilson, Qualls will be able to focus on his studies— as every student deserves.
And Wilson is every bit as kind-hearted as this story makes him seem.
When asked about the donation, Wilson said that he hoped it would inspire others to lend helping hands to people in need.
In particular, he said, “I feel like life is a little too short to, you know, be judging everybody, and you should think more of others than just yourself.”
Tanner Wilson for president, anybody?
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
