Social media sites have often been criticized for making individuals callous and living in a world of fallacies. However, an act of kindness can go a long way and sometimes strangers online can bring a smile in the simplest of ways as Nathen Steffel's story shows.
Barely days after his six-week old daughter Sophia passed away, dad Steffel posted a picture of Sophia on Reddit under the user name steffel07, asking fellow users for a small favor - to remove the tape and tubes that covered the little ones face. Sophia, born on May 30, was suffering from hepatic hemangioma (a tumor in her liver) and died on July 10 at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital.
"My daughter recently passed away after a long battle in the children's hospital. Since she was in the hospital her whole life we never were able to get a photo without all her tubes. Can someone remove the tubes from this photo?" requested Steffel on Reddit.
What followed the unique plea was an overwhelming response from strangers online as Redditors posted paintings, portraits or images they had photoshopped of Sophia without the tubes for Steffel. In just three days, the post generated over 2,800 responses and innumerable images of Sophia.
The users posted charcoal sketches, watercolors and a Redditor even said that he would mail across a physical painting of Sophia to Steffel.
Steffel and his wife were overwhelmed by the support and response. The grieving parents intend to put up a few of their favorite pictures in their home.
"This is really amazing. Everyone you have made my day. All I wanted was a nice picture. What I received was a lot of love and support from a bunch of strangers. A long with a lot of great photos, drawings and paintings. Thanks everyone!" wrote Steffel on Reddit, expressing his gratitude.
