Watch the Viral TikTok Of a Grief-Stricken Honduran Family Being Surprised With a Brand New Home
Screenshots via murphslife/TikTok
On July 18th, humanitarian and social media influencer Aaron Murphy posted a touching photos to his Instagram page. The photo was of a poverty-stricken family in El Progreso, Honduras. Although the family wasn’t dressed in fancy clothing, they appeared content.
Murphy captioned the photo: “This beautiful family invited us over for lunch today…The oldest son committed suicide not long ago. It’s now the daughter and her brother taking care of their parents along with a few little kids.”
Aaron Murphy, who often solicits donations from his followers so he can provide humanitarian aid to families in Latin America, asked his followers to help the Honduran family.
“Grandpa was PROUD to show me his bed.. a hammock,” Murphy continued. “He was recently sleeping on a pile of bamboo sticks. I am taking 100% of my Patreon money and any extra donations this week to build them a furnished home. The government built a small one that’s half finished beside their home. We got permission to fix it for them. I am excited!”
A month passed without much news on the unnamed Honduran family. Until early August when Murphy posted a heartwarming update on the family.
“’I am dreaming, I am dreaming’ (estoy soñando) that is what this abuelo kept murmuring as we gave him his new home,” wrote Murphy, alongside a picture of “Abuelo Pedro” and his wife standing in their new home, tears in their eyes. Thanks to the generosity of Murphy’s followers, Murphy was able to raise enough funds to build Abuelo Pedro and his family a brand new house.
“Thank you to every single one of my supporters. We cannot feed the world but we can change one family at a time,” Murphy continued.
Although Murphy had previously posted videos of the family’s constant high spirits and positive attitude, he revealed that things weren’t always so sunny behind-the-scenes.
In a viral TikTok that has since racked up 10.4 million views and almost 30,000 comments, Murphy explained how difficult the past few months have been for Abuelo Pedro and his family. “It’s easy to change the reality of a story through editing a video. They are not smiling 24/7 nobody is,” he wrote on Instagram. “People suffer and go through a lot of pain on a daily basis.”
The TikTok video showed Abuelo Pedro and his wife crying while they talked about their late son. “My son had told me once that he would build me a home,” says the older woman. “He never fulfilled it because he decided to take his life.”
We saw the elderly couple’s daughter, Lilian, struggle to feed her parents and her children while being a single mother and making under $250 a month. “I must fulfill my promise that my parents live well,” Lilian said through tears. “That is why I work, so that they may eat and live well.”
Abuelo Pedro and his wife explained that their modest bedroom gets flooded whenever it rains. “Everything gets wet including the bed where we sleep,” they said. But despite all this, Abuelo Pedro showed inspiring resilience. “Even though we are poor, we are happy,” he told Murphy.
But the Honduran family’s heartbreaking story had a happy ending when they finally got to see their brand new house.
Instead of living in a dilapidated shack and sleeping on a hammock, the family now has a solid brick house with a mattress. “Your generosity has given this elderly couple their first real bed to share together,” wrote Murphy on TikTok. “It is beautiful. Thank you. From my family,” said Abuelo Pedro, his eyes full of tears.
