It’s not everyday that a pair of neon tennis shoes – well, two pair, actually – tugs at the heart strings of the Upper Midwest.
But a story of kindness from the Under Armour store at the Albertville Premium Outlets has caught the attention of thousands of people over the course of the past week.
The story starts with 8-year-old Landon Pearson, whose mother, Natalie Schuneman, took to social media about five days ago. Natalie shared the story of a shopping trip for new shoes. Landon had seen some bright orange and yellow Under Armour sneakers on a billboard, and he wanted to take them home.
Natalie started by getting her son’s foot measured. After all, at age 8, who knows how much he’d grown. But there was also the knowledge that Landon’s situation was a bit different – born with a clubbed foot, one of his feet measure shorter than the other. It turned out it was by a pretty big margin. Three sizes, in fact.
Surprised, but not shaken, Natalie knew she’d have to buy two paris of shoes. One a size 6. The other, a size 3.
That’s where store manager Sean Kelly stepped in. He quickly offered to buy one of Landon’s pairs of shoes – his first without corrective braces.
“Why not make him happy?” Kelly said.
Check out the story from NBC affiliate KARE 11, who followed up on Natalie’s post to Facebook.