Man surprises disabled childhood friend by making his house more accessible with an elevator

We have heard many tales of people proving their friendship and doing something wholesome for their dearest friends. In a similar vein, Franco Daniele, a resident of the Thunder Bay district of Ontario, Canada, surprised his childhood buddy Jamie Mendek with something that not only landed Mendek in disbelief but restored the faith of netizens in true friendship once again.

Daniele posted a video on his YouTube channel where we can see him entering his new house along with a wheelchair-bound Mendek. But once a door adjacent to the house's garage opens, it reveals a sleek elevator that can easily take Mendek on his wheelchair to the floor above. As Mendek starts uncontrollably laughing and swearing in amusement, Daniele pushes his friend's wheelchair inside the elevator and continues to film his reaction.

In the description of the video, Daniele wrote how they've known each other since they were in kindergarten together. "This is a 2-year-long secret that we high school buds kept while amidst a house build and pandemic. This is the first time we were able to get together to film this reveal video. Now Jamie has another place to hang out in a city that is not very handicap accessible. Sorry, the video gets a little blurry at the end. But what can you do when it's a one-take-only situation?" the description reads.

According to The Chronicle Journal, Mendek has previously lived in spaces that seemed accessible at first but he still had his share of struggles. So, Daniele installing an elevator at his home specifically for his childhood buddy stunned Mendek for sure. "I was in pure shock," said Mendek who can be seen continuously laughing while taking an elevator ride to the top floor of the house. "In the back of my mind, I knew Franco could do something like this but it just didn’t seem real. I’ve been disabled all my life and accessibility is a constant hurdle. Franco goes and puts an elevator in his new home and it just blew me away. It’s incredible."

The duo used to hang out regularly until Mendek left for university and then lived for 10 years in Ottawa. But when he returned to Thunder Bay, he instantly reconnected with Daniele. "Franco started building a home two years ago where he had intentions of including an elevator, but he did not share that detail with me," said Mendek. "One of my buddies almost slipped twice," Daniele said about the hurdles he faced to keep the lid on the surprise that he was planning to give.

"It took six weeks to install it and then we were locked down," he added. The lockdown prevented Mendek from visiting his buddy's home to check the unfinished project and the workers could complete installing the elevator with ease. In the end, his thoughtful and heartfelt step to do something special for his disabled friend ended up being a success as Mendek loved what his friend did for just him. "We opened a bottle of champagne after and celebrated," Daniele stated.

Netizens showered their love and admiration for Mendek and Daniele's unbreakable friendship on Reddit and Twitter when the video was circulated. u/Specific_Reward_7804 wrote: "There is this infectious laughter that will stick with me through the day. This hits deep in my heart. Let's all be that friend for someone." u/Difficult_Double7988 commented: "Those are some solid friends. Buddy couldn't stop laughing he was so happy. This is so dope!" Let's hope we all find ourselves thoughtful friends like Daniele.