Brighten Your Day

Strangers Befriend Man With Down Syndrome After Mom Offers To Pay People To Spend Time With Him

February 15, 2023

A mother in Missouri was offering to pay people to be friends with her son.

She never expected such a positive response from the public.

Christian and his new pals / Credit: KMOV St. Louis

On Feb. 2, Donna Herter posted a heartbreaking message to Facebook requesting a young man to spend two hours twice a month with her son, Christian Bowers. She said would pay the person $80 for the two hours.

"I'm looking for a young man, between the ages of 20-28 who would like to make some extra money," she wrote. "Two days a month for two hours, I'll pay you to be my son's friend. All you have to do is sit with him and play video games in his room. Nothing else. He's 24 and has Down Syndrome and doesn't have any friends his age. You will not be alone with him, myself or his grandpa will be home. Obviously he won't know you are getting paid, but that you are there for him those 2 days."

The post quickly went viral and has since garnered nearly 60,000 shares and more than 26,000 comments.

Donna said the majority of comments on her post were positive, filling up the calendar for the next several months with new friends from across St. Louis, who expect nothing in return. She's even received offers from as far away as London and Australia.

"I still have people messaging, and I'm adding more dates and I just can't stop smiling and it's not even for me, it's for him," Donna told KMOV. "He has not been this happy in years, this is the happiest I've seen him in years."

Last weekend, Bowers was treated to several new friends from the nonprofit STL Youth Sports Outreach. They brought Christian a new 65″ flat-screen TV, a wireless sound bar, St. Louis Blues tickets and plenty of snacks for late-night gaming sessions.

"Christian kept saying, 'O.M.G', I think that's how we all feel. I was not expecting any of this," Donna said.

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