A random act of kindness has made Lewis Richards a sensation on Facebook, with more than 2100 people showing their appreciation after he painted the bike of a young boy free of charge.
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Lewis was working at Geoff Richards Panel Beating when the young Aboriginal boy came in, looking for someone to help him tighten the chain on his bike.
The bike was in poor condition and Lewis said he felt the sudden compulsion to help the boy out and he offered to paint the boy's bike. The youngster was ecstatic and was even more impressed he saw the result of Lewis' work a day later.
An initial post on Facebook about the encounter from Lewis attracted 2100 likes and when he posted photos of his handywork, he attracted a further 1800. Lewis said he didn't expect the reaction but had felt compelled to help the boy.
"I really didn't expect that. When I posted it I didn't think anyone would even read it," he said.
"It hit close to home. He came over with a big ring spanner, way too big, and asked if we could tighten his chain for him.
"It just reminded me of me when I was a kid. He was cruising around with his mate and his bike was pretty average. It didn't have handlebars and it was pretty beat up.
"We gave him a hand and he looked around and asked if we had painted everything. He couldn't believe we painted this stuff and said 'prove it' so I told him to drop his bike round and we would paint it for him.
"He was a bit surprised and he thought I was joking. He said 'you're going to paint it pink'. I assured him I wasn't and told him if he pulled the bike down and brought the pieces back in I would paint them up."
The boy couldn't choose what colours he wanted so Lewis chose a range of custom pearlescent and candied paints and worked his magic. Simmo Signs donated some custom graphics for the bike and Lewis purchased some new handlebar grips.
Lewis gave the back the finished pieces and asked him to come back into the shop when he had put it back together but so far he hasn't seen him again.
"He was really excited and really thankful. It was really nice and you could see it meant a lot to him. I hope he comes back in because I would like to get a photo with him and his bike," he said.
"My dad [Todd Richards, the business owner] was good, he allowed me to do it all in work time and told me to make sure I went all out with it. It was good of the sign company to do them free of charge too."
