A few days ago, we told you the touching, gripping, incredible story of Bo Paske, a Florida boy with autism who spent many afternoons eating lunch alone in the school cafeteria. Or at least he did eat alone, until Florida State wide receiver Travis Rudolph surprised Paske and spent Tuesday afternoon eating lunch with him.
While the gesture itself was small, it made a huge impact and went viral when Bo’s mom Leah shared it on a Facebook post and explained how much it meant to her. That post and the subsequent back story have reached hundreds of thousands of people at this point.
Well, we have an update. Bo, Leah and Travis Rudolph joined “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning to discuss how their lives have changed over the past few days. And there are many happy new developments.
It starts with Rudolph, who explained that when he and his teammates arrived at the school, his coaches told them to spread out. When Rudolph walked into the cafeteria, he recognized Bo from earlier in the day. According to Rudolph, they hit it off right away.
Bo agreed.
“I just saw him and he said, ‘Hey, can I sit down with you?'” Bo said. “And I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ And just like that we were eating lunch together, and he even signed my lunch box.”
The touching moment clearly impacted not only the two at the lunch table, but also Leah. In her Facebook post, she discussed the anxiety of sending her son to school, knowing that he might face days where he sat alone in the cafeteria. Rudolph’s small gesture changed everything.
“I’m actually pretty overwhelmed, pretty emotional,” she said. “Seeing the picture for the first time was, it was, I was just overcome with emotion. I was so grateful; he’s a superstar here. To go into a crowded lunch room where I’m sure he was being flagged down and waved at, and that he would choose Bo to sit with, I don’t even have words to express how grateful I am.”
Rudolph was asked how his life has changed since that day.
“I didn’t even recognize that it would be this big,” he said. “It just became really viral, and I just wanted it to become aware that everyone is the same, and one man can make a difference.”
There were a couple more updates. For starters, Bo doesn’t eat lunch alone anymore. In fact, he might be the most popular kid in school, according to his mom.
“Actually, yesterday, in the cafeteria he was sitting at a table full of girls,” Leah Paske said. “He was the most popular kid in the room … he had a seat at the table full of people.”
And as for Bo? He was asked what the whole experience was like.
“It was kind of like me sitting on a rainbow,” he said.