Iranian teacher visits his cancer-stricken student every day to catch him up on school

There's no understating the importance of teachers and the role they play in the lives of their students. A teacher from Iran is being lauded for going above and beyond duty to be there for this student who is in the hospital undergoing treatment for cancer. The image of the teacher sitting outside his student's hospital room has gone viral after it was posted on Reddit. The photo shows the teacher and his student separated by a glass pane, and the teacher is believed to be helping the student catch up on class. The teacher is seated on the floor with his legs crossed, holding a tablet and showing it to the student through the glass. He is speaking into a phone, with the boy holding the other end of the phone behind the glass, while lying on the bed, reported The DailyMail.

The caption of the post reads: "An Iranian teacher visits his cancer-stricken student every day to catch him up on lessons." The heartwarming picture went viral garnering more than 137,000 upvotes and close to 2,000 comments on the platform. Many praised the teacher for his dedication and for visiting and helping the boy through this difficult time. "You can tell by the look on that kid's face, that he’s happy to have his teacher there. I mean hell if I was cooped up in a hospital all day learning something and interacting with the teacher/ material would seem like a nice reprieve. That’s one hell of a teacher actually committed to his job," wrote one person.

Many shared their personal stories of teachers being wholesome. "I had a university professor who visited one of his former students in the hospital daily. The student was dying of AIDS and his entire family had disowned him. The professor had only known him for one class," wrote one person. "As a former teacher of sorts, you have to keep in mind that invariably you're far more important to every student than they are to you, right off the bat, just due to their education being a formative part of their lives and a literally larger chunk of their time alive so far," chimed in another person. "I got appendicitis and mono at the same time while living in China. My teachers came by every day while I was recovering to go over the classwork I missed. One of them even brought me soup and little carrot-and-egg pies every time she visited. You don't forget kindness like that," added another user.

Teachers are an invaluable resource in the community and yet one of the most underpaid professions. As we reported, one teacher explained what she does in a day, highlighting what a source of support she is for her students. Katie Peters, a high school educator, was responding to a snarky comment about teachers returning to in-person teaching. "Today, I helped a young man find safe housing. I found a winter coat for a girl who didn't have one. I located a student's missing backpack. I gave a student a little bit of cash for a haircut and made sure a student had enough food to last them through the weekend," she said in a video that went viral.  

Peters highlighted how a lot of what teachers do is often outside the confines of a classroom and things that are not listed in their job profile. "I listened to a lengthy story about a puppy. I sat with a young girl dealing with cramps and helped support one of my male students dealing with his first heartbreak. I walked a new student to her next class so she didn't feel alone. I saved an art project with super glue and I wrote a card to a student who was struggling," she added. Peters added that every teacher became a teacher because it's what they love doing. "I don't want a single accolade. No teacher I know wants a pat on the back or gratitude. What they do need is grace. I want you to know, in your child's school, 30-50 teachers and support staff did that today. And will do it again tomorrow. It's what we signed up for. It's what we love. It's what makes us fulfilled," she said.