‘Beautiful little soul’: Boy’s selfless birthday wish wins over internet

A 9-year-old Auckland boy has won over the internet with a selfless wish for his birthday.

Father Samuel Sen posted to Facebook on Sunday to share the generous birthday wish of his son, Darsh, after the mosque shootings.

“I was going to surprise him with a gift which he wanted for his birthday — which was a laptop — but he surprised me,” Sen wrote.

“I asked him today while going to buy it, ‘What do you want for your birthday’. He said ‘flowers’. I was amused and confused, why flowers?

“So I asked him . . . and he replied, ‘because I want to take it to the mosque and pay my respects to the people who died in Christchurch’.

“I was shocked and surprised and didn’t know what to say. After a moment of silence I asked him ‘what about the laptop you wanted for so long?’. He said, ‘Dadda, you can donate that money to people who need it more in Christchurch. They need it more and I can use your laptop for now’.”

The simple but heartwarming story has attracted more than 6300 reactions on Facebook, and has been shared more than 1200 times.

Many have replied to the post wishing Darsh a happy birthday and praising his actions.

“Bless his heart, what a selfless act,” one person said.

Another wrote, “the world exists because of the kind hearts like you.”

Another said, “Beautiful little soul. We definitely need more people like him in this world, so innocent in this world too. I hope he still gets his laptop he definitely deserves it for his selflessness.”

Photos with the post show the 9-year-old visiting the Al-Mustafa Jamia Masjid, in Otahuhu, South Auckland, and laying his flowers.

Sen yesterday told the Herald he was still shocked at his son’s kind gesture. “I have been reading some of the posts . . . and oh my gosh, I have never seen so much,” he said.

Darsh said he was “very happy” with the online response.

“But I don’t know how to thank them all for their wishes,” he said.