Best friends Rush Monday and Quinton Neal are inseparable. The two second-graders from Reidsville, North Carolina, are so close that they tell people they’re twins, despite their racial differences. The boys even dress alike and always are there for each other when one is down or hurt.
So inevitably, when Rush was in a serious car accident, his best friend was desperately worried. Rush’s mom, Tara Monday, was driving his her son and daughter when the collision happened in October. “It was kind of bad weather here … And all of a sudden, a car crossed the center line and hit us head-on,” Monday said, “It was the scariest moment of our lives. And Rush was injured the worst out of all of us.”
The family was rushed to the hospital and put into different rooms. Tara’s son had internal bleeding and was immediately sent to surgery. “Rush was feeling very scared and sad and defeated,” Monday said, “He’s only 7. He was in a lot of pain. And he didn’t want to move, he did not want to get up and walk.”
Quinton was desperate to visit his injured best friend. When Monday told her son that Quinton was coming to the hospital, he immediately perked up. However, rather stubbornly, he only agreed to get up and try to walk again “when Quinton comes.”
Rush kept to his word and only would try to walk again once his friend was by his side. Finally, the day came. As expected, Quinton and his family came to visit the 7-year-old in the hospital. The families took an adorable video of the two school kids walking side by side down one of the hospital hallways.
For Rush, this was not an easy walk. He was hunched over and in pain. But his best friend gave him the strength he needed and helped teach him how to walk again. The video of the boys’ short walk down the hospital hallway together went viral, and their story is inspiring people across America, making two very proud moms.
While Rush is larger than Quinton, “They don’t see in size difference, they don’t see in color differences. We don’t see like that,” Monday said. “And we want Rush and Quinton just to show the world, ‘Hey, it doesn’t have to stop when you’re seven and eight. It can be like this all the time.” The boys tell everyone, “we’re brothers from another mother.”
