Teen Can't Speak, But for 5 Years Has Been Singing with Staff at Grocery Store Every Day
Shopping for food is often a chore, a regular necessity that, for most of us, offers as much drudgery as a reward. Surely you’ve dreaded the experience of trying to find a parking space at your local grocery store.
You have to struggle through the crowds, searching for some staple that has gotten inexplicably moved. Then when you get to the checkout line, the person in front of you starts arguing with the clerk about a coupon.
A manager eventually wanders over, and a short errand has somehow turned into a drawn-out chore. Sure, I’m exaggerating, but we’ve all been there.
For Tammy Nash, though, going to the grocery store is a rewarding experience each and every time. It’s mostly because of her son, Brett.
See, Brett takes an almost otherworldly enjoyment in visiting a nearby Spar supermarket in his home of Johannesburg, South Africa. He has made friends there, and sometimes they dance with him, clasp him by the hand and give him hugs.
That might sound a little odd. But Brett is no ordinary shopper.
According to News24, the young man suffers from an undiagnosed illness. No physician has figured it out, but it has rendered Brett nonverbal.
“We have since put it down to distal arthrogryposis, which is a joint and muscle disorder,” Nash said. “But (it’s not) an official diagnosis.”
Indeed, distal arthrogryposis is likely only a small part of Brett’s affliction. According to the National Institute of Health’s Genetics Home Reference, the disorder includes “permanently bent fingers and toes,” but “this condition typically does not cause any signs and symptoms affecting other parts of the body.”
While Brett may not speak, he hums. “Brett is non-verbal but he is always humming a tune and, one time‚ one of the staff picked up on him humming the national anthem and they joined him (in singing it),” Nash told Times LIVE.
The sweet gesture soon became a regular occurrence at the Spar location that Brett and his mother frequent. He gets excited as soon as he enters the store.
“It’s like clockwork,” Nash said. “Almost every day at around 6 p.m., we are there.”
“He picks out his trolley, and he is on his way, greeting everybody until he starts singing.” It was such a touching experience that Nash decided she wanted to share it with the world.
She recorded Spar staff singing with Brett — and Brett even trying to get passersby to join in. The video has since gone viral, racking up tens of thousands of views on Facebook.
Spar director Peter Arsalides found it touching and said, “It is a beautiful story, to say the least. It is humbling to see Brett’s innocent exuberance every time he visits ‘his’ Spar.”
Brett’s sister Sarah thinks that her brother’s openness could serve as a broader societal lesson, stating, “Brett is someone that will always show love to anybody. I think if he can express that much love and that much kindness despite everything, we can too.”
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