Strangers help a grieving mum edit a video of his last choir performance

"I never expected so much kindness"

nathan

by Thea de Gallier |
Published on

When Angela McElhiney's son Nathan took his own life in October 2016, the devastated mum sought comfort in a video of Nathan singing with his school choir.

In the clip, he's singing Wayfaring Stranger, an American folk song about a soul travelling through life, in his school gym.

The audio, though, is fuzzy, and understandably, Angela, from Oklahoma, US, wanted to see if there was any way to edit it to preserve the memory of her son's performance.

"It was such a bad recording and I just wanted to be able to hear him better," Angela told CNN. "Right now, I feel like it's very therapeutic because I feel like it's the journey he's taking."

She posted the clip on Reddit asking if anyone could help to edit it and make his voice clearer.

It didn't take long for her to receive a response - condolences came quickly, as well as multiple offers to edit the video.

"There were a lot of people who said 'I don't really know what I'm doing, but here's my best shot at it,'" Angela said.

Here's one of the edited recordings she received.

Angela was overwhelmed by all the offers. "I never expected so much kindness and so many people taking time out of their day," she said. "We can't express our gratitude enough."

Here's another edit of Nathan's singing.

Proof that the kindness of strangers does exist.

If you've been affected by suicide or are struggling with mental health, you can call the Samaritans on 0845 790 9090.

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