Photo of eight-year-old holding hands with classmate with autism goes viral

Boys have since formed an 'inseparable bond'

A heartwarming photo of two eight-year-old classmates holding hands is going viral, and it shows the power of kindness.

When Courtney Moore dropped her son Christian off at his first day of school at Minneha Core Knowledge Elementary school in Wichita, Kansas, she watched as he sat down next to another boy who was crying.

The proud mum then took pictures as her son grabbed his classmate’s hand and walked him towards the school.

One picture, in particular, which Moore shared on Facebook, has since been shared more than 26,000 times - as it turns out that the other eight-year-old boy named Conner has autism.

“I’m so proud of my son, he [saw] a kid balled up into a corner crying, so he went to console him, grabbed his hand and walked him inside of the school!” Moore wrote on Facebook. “It is an honour to raise such a loving, compassionate child! He’s a kid with a big heart, the first day of school started off right.”

The picture captured the attention of April Crites, Connor’s mother, who reached out to Moore to thank her for his compassion.

“Tell your son I said thank you so very much!” she said in a Facebook comment. “That little boy he helped is my son and is autistic, I worry everyday that he is going to get bullied for being different and your son just absolutely warmed my heart.

“If there were more children like him I wouldn’t worry about such things.”

According to Connor, the simple gesture was enough to make him forget his anxieties over the first day of school.

“He was kind to me. It was the first day of school and I started crying then he helped me and I was happy,” he told KAKE. “He found me and help my hand and I got happy tears.”

According to the mums, the gesture marked the beginning of a lasting friendship between the two boys.

“The rest was history, they have an inseparable bond,” Moore told the news outlet.

The photo also proved the difference just one act of kindness can make, according to Crites, who said: “It doesn’t matter colour, it doesn’t matter gender, it doesn’t matter disability, and it doesn’t matter anything, just be kind, open your heart… it’s what we need in this world.”