Kind boy, six, told he’s too young to give blood to the Manchester arena attack victims… so takes sweets to nurses ‘to thank them for their hard work’ instead
A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy who was told he was too young to donate blood to victims of the Manchester terror attack has visited his local hospital to hand out sweets to hardworking staff instead.
Little Joseph Griffiths begged his mum to let him help after hearing that his best friend's sister and mum were caught up in the explosion at an Ariana Grande concert - which left 22 people dead and 119 injured.
Knowing he had the rare blood type O-negative, Joseph, from Wythenshawe, Manchester, asked if he could join his mum Leah Griffiths, 28, in donating.
But doctors confirmed the lad was too young, leaving him devastated.
So his mum suggested the pair go to their local hospital and hand out snacks to the emergency services, who had been working round-the-clock in the wake of the explosion.
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Leah said staff at Wythenshawe Hospital burst into tears when Joseph handed out his selection of cakes, biscuits, sweets and chocolate - praising them for their hard work.
Leah said: "He was pretty devastated and was in tears after he was told he couldn't help.
"So I told him we would go and get some sweets and snacks from Tesco after he finished school and that we would take them to the staff in A&E at Wythenshawe Hospital as I knew they would have been working non-stop.
"When we arrived there was a police van parked up outside so Joe went over and offered them some chocolate and they let him get in the van and let him wear their hats.
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"Although they must have been shattered they were really friendly and just tried to make this a better situation than it was.
"Then we went to A&E and walked over to the nurses' station and gave them cakes and biscuits.
"They asked why we were doing that and Joseph replied saying: 'Because I want to say thank you for everything you have done and all of your hard work.'
"The nurses all started to get upset and were so grateful for this small act of kindness."
One nurse at Whythenshawe Hospital took to social media to praise Joseph's actions.
She said: "A six year-old boy came into A&E today with his mum and wanted to donate blood but was too young so he then bought in a load of goodies in for us...
"I can't explain how this affected us apart from we cried. His mum must be so proud of him and I certainly would be if he was mine."
Victims of the devastating attack were taken to hospitals across the city - including Manchester Royal Infirmary, Salford Royal and Wythenshawe Hospital.
There have been 22 people confirmed dead with details of the victims emerging - whilst 20 people, including children, remain in a critical condition.
Over the past 24 hours, parents across the city and the country have been taking to social media to ask if we should be informing our children of terror attacks or if we should be shielding them for as long as possible to protect their innocence.
Joseph's mum said: "It's such a tough one because you want to keep them innocent at six but something as big as a terror attack, you need them to know something because it could happen again and you want them to know what to do.
"All the children at Joseph's school knew what had happened because they had seen it on the news or heard me and my husband talking about it - I think what is important is how we handle that.
"I know when he went to school yesterday he was told that if he had any questions about what happened he shouldn't hesitate to ask a teacher, and I think that's good.
"Joseph regularly talks to the homeless people around Manchester and has recently starred in a music video to raise awareness of the issue across Manchester.
"He is someone that doesn't need to be told or to think about acts of kindness it's just an instinct for him."