As a school bus mechanic, Thomas Mitchell from Clarksville, Tennessee was already going above and beyond the call of duty when he would fill in as a bus driver. But when he went out of his way to help one of the students on his bus, he proved just how generous he is.
Lydia DeSpain, aged 10, has special needs including the full sized wheelchair she uses to get around. When he stopped at her house, Mitchell saw that her mother Verna had to carry her heavy wheelchair to the driveway.
While she had a flimsy, temporary ramp, it didn't work very well and there was no space to move around on her front steps. Mithell said it "just didn't seem right that somebody had to struggle like that," and started to plan how he could help her.
Mitchell called DeSpain and asked if it would be okay to build her daughter a safer ramp, and of course she said that would be wonderful. Then, Mitchell got to work arranging how to build it for free, so it wouldn't cost DeSpain anything.
His local Lowes donated the lumber, and a few other mechanics from the school board helped Mitchell put it together. In the end, it only took three hours to build a ramp that would make Lydia's life so much easier.
"I'm every thankful and grateful," Verna told CBS News. "It's a major blessing. This is the best year my children and I have ever had."
Mitchell's small act of generosity has been getting a lot of attention, and he says people have been telling him impressed they are with his kindness.
"I challenge them to do the same," he says. "There's no greater feeling."
