Being bullied is a horrible experience, one that 11-year-old Phil Mick knows firsthand.
Throughout his 5th-grade year, Phil had been coming home with mysterious bruises and marks. His mother Theresa tells CNN that her son would try to shrug off the injuries, but in reality, Phil was being bullied by his classmates.
In an interview with CNN, the mother explains, “They were calling him ‘fat’, cussing at him, hitting him in private areas. He told me one day he wanted to end his life.”
Last year, during a charity event held by a local motorcycle shop, low-income families were treated to holiday celebration. It was here that Theresa told Brent Warfield, director of United Motorcycle Enthusiasts, of her son’s plight with bullies.
Warfield could empathize with Phil’s struggle; he had also been bullied as a child— and he feels like kids that days may even have it harder than other generations, telling The Independent:
“These kids, they can’t even get away from it with social media and all that. To see and hear the stories of all these families who have lose kids to suicide from bullying is just awful.”
Warfield was eager to help Phil out, using social media to his advantage by recruiting a few bikers to help him escort Phil to school.
He posts:
He also goes above and beyond, collecting donations and buying new school clothes for the boy, writing:
“His parents don’t have a lot of [money]. One of the reasons he was picked on last year is because his parents could not afford new clothes. If you want to help?”
In the end, over 50 bikers respond to Warfield’s call for help, all showing up to escort Phil to his first day of 6th grade at Dekalb Middle School.
Some of the bikers had to travel over an hour to attend the event, but they were determined to show their support, praying with Phil before the 4-mile ride and even giving him his own leather jacket.
Warfield tells the Washington Post, “Phil was just in heaven. He wasn’t apprehensive or scared. He walked in with confidence. This is his new start. He was happy as heck.”
According to CNN, Phil has been in school for a week (as of August 4th, 2017), and “so far, so good.” His mother is no doubt grateful to the group of “big-hearted bikers”, noting that it’s nice to see her son laughing again.
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