Firefighters surprised bullied autistic boy with a special gift

A kid with autism was bullied by his classmates. The local firefighters surprised him with a nice gift.

Then 12-year-old Jonathan Moran was given a pair of Nike gym shoes along with a couple more gifts by the firefighters from Linden, New Jersey.

It all happened after Moran was bullied on the bus to school.

In an interview with CBS2, Moran said his classmates made fun of his sneakers and also called him fat and stupid.Things got even worse when the seventh grader got on the bus again to go home.

Moran explained, “He started punching me. He broke my glasses, split my lip, and he gave me bruises around my face.”

The firefighters together with the emergency medical technicians were called to respond. After giving the boy proper medical treatment, the EMTs brought him home.

Brian Paster, a Linden firefighter-EMT, told CBS2 that what happened touched his heart. He told his colleagues about what happened and they all decided to chip in and buy the kid a pair of shoes.

When the weekend came, the firefighters surprised Moran at his home. They gave him brand new sneakers, a T-shirt, socks, as well as a wooden American flag.

Moran said that he loves his new shoes.

Hope Moran, the boy’s mother, explained that her son typically acts out in situations where he is bullied. She said it’s one of the things that trigger him.

At the time, Moran had only been at his new school for over a week. Hope revealed that her son had already been bullied in the past.

It came as a surprise to her that he handled the situation well. Hope said she is proud of her son.

As for Moran, he said that he had already forgiven his classmate and that he wanted to invite him over for dinner for them to be friends.