Chris Kuykendall, a popular high school football star in New Mexico, was bullied when he was younger. So, when he heard that 5-year-old Keison was being bullied, it brought back painful memories.
Keison was coming home with bruises from being kicked and crying from being called names. He was being bullied so badly that he would throw up every day before school.
How a High School Football Player Helped a Bullied Child
The popular Hobbs High School student knew the feeling all too well which is why he knew he had to step in and help this child.
"It just hit home. I remembered how I felt when I was getting bullied. It just fired me up. I wanted to change that right then and there. I didn’t want him to go another day, wake up another day, feeling like he didn’t need to go to school," Chris Kuykendall said on the Meredith Show.
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Chris had lunch with Keison at school so the bullies would see that he has a “big friend," and he gave him an autographed football from the team.
“Going to that lunch it was just like fun, you know, seeing his face just light up when you walk in there and seeing him happy, him getting that football,” he said.
After that lunch together, Keison no longer had a bullying problem.
How One Teen Proved the Importance of Making a Difference
Chris's efforts inspired his football buddy, Brevin Young, and the two of them started Eagle Buddies, an organization with a mission to “adopt” a younger child who is a victim of bullying.
"It’s not like you’re just going to go and just have lunch with them and it’s just like that’s the end of it. We keep in contact with them, we talk to them still they basically get a friend for life," Chris said.
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The boys' moms were in the audience at the Meredith Show where their sons were being interviewed about the Eagle Buddies program and they both said they didn't know their boys had been bullied until they started the program.
"It's just amazing to see how kids can help kids. And don't every underestimate a 16-year-old. It's been so amazing to see the humanity in teenagers," Brevin Young's mom said.
Inspired by Eagle Buddies, more football players and cheerleaders are joining the organization. That sounds like a good game plan.
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