Gym Manager Goes Out Of His Way To Help A Man With Down Syndrome

Gym manager’s act of kindness goes viral online:

Video Credit: Youtube/WPRI

Lisa Simpson is a caretaker of a 22-year-old man named Christopher Wagner Jr.

Christopher has Down syndrome and Simpson helps him to live his life to the fullest.

Christopher loves working out at a nearby Planet Fitness. Simpson takes him to there.

On Feb. 18, when Simpson was driving him to the gym, she noticed the car was running low on gas.

She stopped to fill it up but couldn’t open the gas cap. It was definitely a bad day as she then noticed she left her wallet at home.

When they arrived at Planet Fitness, Simpson realized Christopher was wearing ankle-high boots instead of his exercise shoes.

“I put my head in my hands, and I’m just like, … ‘Now what am I going to do?’ Because I know I can’t go buy him shoes because I don’t have any money,” Simpson said.

“And I can’t go all the way to Burrillville and back because my gas cap is frozen. I was just like, … ‘What else is going to happen today?’”

Finally, something good happened.

Daniel Cote, the manager of the Planet Fitness in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, bought Christopher a pair of athletic shoes and even put them on his feet.

Daniel, who faced hardships while growing up, said:

“I ended up under foster families and group homes, more group homes though because even with foster families I argued, I acted out,” he told WPRI-TV.

“I wasn’t really a people person, per se I guess, I really just stuck to myself,” he said.

Though, he “started interacting with the members here” and it was Christopher who he connected with.

“The position I’m in now. I feel like I need to give back because I didn’t have everything.”

His act of kindness touched everyone’s heart. Simpson said:

“I think it was just surreal it was just unbelievable that somebody would do that for somebody that he doesn’t really know,”

“It’s not something that typically happens in your day to day life that people are that kind,” Simpson said.