Samuel Weidenhofer, the content creator behind a record-breaking campaign to help an 88-year-old U.S. Army veteran retire, is an unlikely messenger.
Born in Adelaide, Australia, Weidenhofer was diagnosed at an early age with apraxia of speech (also known as childhood aphasia), a speech motor disorder in which the brain has difficulty coordinating the movements of the tongue, mouth, and jaw to form words.
“I was sent to a special kindergarten and had eight years of therapy, but my parents didn’t think I could communicate properly,” he told CBN News. “So the fact that a voice can make such a difference in the world, a voice that I never thought I could properly communicate, is going to bring a lot of awareness out into the world for people with hidden disabilities.”
And he certainly made a difference.
Earlier this week, Weidenhofer posted a video of an impromptu conversation with Ed Bambas, an octogenarian who retired in 1999 but still works full-time at a grocery store in Detroit after losing his pension, health insurance and housing in the General Motors bankruptcy. His wife lost her pension and medical care due to illness and died seven years ago.
In just a few days, a GoFundMe set up by Weidenhofer has raised $1.78 million for VanBus.
Although this is definitely his most viral effort, Weidenhofer has been creating content for years. However, his passion for spreading kindness and positivity began when he was just 10 years old after facing a tragedy that left him “broken as a human being.”
“When my mother was taking a shower, I saw my uncle calling me, so I answered the phone,” he said. “My uncle was screaming and crying and had big tears streaming down his face.”
Weidenhofer’s uncle told his then-10-year-old nephew that his “aunt” had committed suicide.
“I’ve never heard so much pain in someone’s voice again,” Weidenhofer recalled. “And that hurt me so much, and that’s why I’m doing (this) in honor of her. … I believe that watching the video can save someone’s life, and I believe that so many lives were saved because of her.”
Weidenhofer said he found his “purpose in this world” through his aunt’s life.
The 22-year-old social media influencer pointed out that his latest content, even meeting Bambas, is having a positive impact on more than just the lives of veterans. Weidenhofer said he heard from a woman who was suicidal, but came across the conversation with Bambas and “decided to continue.”
“I get messages like that every day,” he said. “This really saves lives. To me, that’s the most important thing, right? You can raise money for people and you can make a huge difference in their lives. But something as simple as a message saying ‘You saved my life’ speaks volumes.”
Regarding his encounter with Vanbass, Weidenhofer said their meeting was inspired by God.
The content creator explained that someone commented on one of his posts and talked about an older man who works at a Meijer supermarket in the Detroit suburb of Brighton. The commenter didn’t know anything about Bambas other than that he was a kind man who seemed to be going through some tough times.
“To be honest, there wasn’t a lot of backstory about Ed,” Weindehofer said. “To see what came out of that and to have him share his story and tell us how true it came through, because it was completely random and out of the blue, and now it’s inspired millions of people. It’s incredible to see the support that’s come through.”
You can watch the full conversation with Weidenhofer in the video above.
As the number of voices facing censorship from big tech companies continues to grow, sign up for FaithWire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app developed by our parent company to get the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.
