MONROE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man had no idea the impact a simple interaction would have on a boy and his family.
Kahlief Hill said he meets a lot of people as a manager of the Selinsgrove Hampton Inn. Over the weekend, he was checking in the Haas family from Frackville. Hill was on the phone when 13-year-old Colin Haas asked if he could show him a card trick.
“I said, ‘Why not? I’m on hold. I have time,'” Hill recalled.
Colin and Hill exchanged card tricks for the next half hour.
“The next night they came in from dinner. I said, ‘Hello, how are you?’ I said, ‘How are you doing with the magic trick I showed you yesterday?’ He said, ‘I can’t remember.’ I said, ‘Come back out, I’ll show you again,'” Hill recalled.
Colin’s mom Megan snapped a picture of the two working on card tricks a second time.
After Colin went to bed, his mom thanked Hill and said people are usually quick to dismiss her son, who has autism. Colin’s father passed away a few years ago, and he does not have a strong male role model in his life.
Related: A local man's inspirational story for World Autism Awareness Day
Megan Haas posted about the act of kindness on Facebook, and Hill woke up the next morning to nearly 900 friend requests.
“That post popped up, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ and I instantly started crying,” he said.
The post quickly went viral and has been shared thousands of times. Hill's manager Jason Gabany saw it, too.
“‘I think that’s Kahlief. That is Kahlief! That’s our property, that’s so cool!'” Gabany recalled saying.
The Hampton Inn does special fundraisers during Autism Awareness Month, but Gabany said Hill’s act of kindness had nothing to do with that.
“For him to take the time to see that somebody just wanted to be entertained a little bit, he had the time to do it, he wanted to do it and he took good care of him with it,” Gabany said.
Colin’s mom said Hill’s act of kindness made his whole weekend.
“I’m so happy that I was able to help make his day a little brighter, not realizing how I impacted,” Hill said.