The emotional moment a teen realizes his late father bought him the perfect present
In time for his 16th birthday, a teenage guitarist named Johnny received an unexpected present from his late father and, subsequently, a gift from a massive group of kind internet strangers.
In the clip that started it all, the teenager, standing in a music store, receives a birthday card signed by his dad, and bursts into tears when he sees the guitar his father picked out for him before his death in April.
SEE ALSO:How KISS applied makeup before concertsPosted to Reddit on Thursday, the video has more than 6,600 comments of support for Johnny and his family. Friends who know Johnny and his late father chimed in as well to offer a bit of backstory on how the plan came together.
From Pete Kruse, a manager at Port Huron Music Center in Michigan, where Johnny's father purchased the guitar:
This happened yesterday in my store. His Dad bought him this guitar in February and we held it here for his birthday. His Dad passed away unexpectedly in April. His Dad was a really nice guy. Yesterday was the young man's 16th birthday. It was a really emotional day for all of us.
And another from one of Johnny's family members detailing how the video rose in popularity (edited slightly for clarity):
This is my wife's little cousin, his father actually stood up for me in our wedding. If you knew his dad you would understand how prepared he was for everything. It really was a surprise for Johnny's birthday and he couldn't believe that his dad (who had passed from an unexpected heart attack about two months before) had one last surprise for him on his birthday. His sister had just posted the video on Facebook so the rest of the family could see his reaction and it blew up pretty fast. Johnny gets lessons once a week and playing guitar in his band is everything to him. I actually surprised him with Alice Cooper tickets for him and I to go later in the year. Just such a happy thing for Johnny in such a rough time.
Since landing on Reddit, the video's prompted an outpouring of support from kind strangers looking to help a kid out after the loss of his father. Over the course of just a few hours, Kruse says he received thousands of dollars from strangers hoping to help pay for Johnny's guitar lessons.
He wrote: "As of this Edit we have received $16,250.45 on John's behalf. This is absolutely amazing, I have never seen anything like it. I have put the family in touch with a good attorney so they can receive proper legal advice."
When reached for comment on an updated total via email, Kruse said he'll be sharing all updates on Reddit.
An r/videos moderator commented to confirm that they'd been in touch with the music store's manager to ensure that the donations will be put to proper use.
And if thousands of dollars worth of guitar lessons aren't enough, a guitarist for the rock musician Alice Cooper left a comment offering to arrange a meet-and-greet for Johnny and the artist at an upcoming Cooper concert.
She wrote:
Just messaged /u/Pete_Kruse to let him know that I'll take care of passes for John to come backstage and say hi to Alice and the band at our show. I watched this video a bunch of times earlier today before I even knew he was coming to a show, and sent it to a bunch of guitar player friends... such an amazing moment!! Can't wait to meet John and the family!!
We've reached out to Johnny's family for comment, and will update should we hear back.
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