Alex Bruorton, an 8 year-old boy from Sherwood, Arkansas, was being bullied so badly because of his appearance that he wasn’t going to school anymore; he just wanted to stay at home. He has CLOVES syndrome, an extremely rare overgrowth condition that often causes vascular malformations and tumor-like growths in fatty tissues. In Alex’s case, it meant that one side of his face has been growing more than it should.
As it happens, Alex’s mom Nichole has some friends in the biker community. One of them found out what was going on and decided to organize a convoy that would escort Alex to school and have him arrive in style, getting a ride on a motorcycle. Maybe that would put the bullies in their place. As word got around, and the group Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) got involved, more and more bikers decided they’d be joining the convoy, too. It turned into a biker rally!
When the convoy got rolling, there were hundreds of bikers taking part. As Alex’s mom said, “He had no idea. We’ve been only telling him that 20 or 30 people are coming. And we roll up and he’s looking out and standing up in the back seat and he’s like oh my god!” Kong, a member of BACA, explained, “We’re here to show him that people do care for him. Kids can be mean but not everybody’s mean. There are good people in the world.” Alex was given the road name One-Shot, although according to Kong, “I said we should’ve named him Rockstar instead of One-Shot because he’s getting his picture taken, he’s walking around fist-bumping. He’s just a great kid.”
To meet Alex and some of his new friends, check out the video posted below. As Nichole says, “I hope that parents can watch this and sit down with their kids and say just because somebody looks different doesn’t mean you treat them different.”
How did you like the way these bikers came through for Alex? Let us know in the comments at Facebook. Don’t forget to like and share!
