There’s a story about an act of kindness going viral on social media recently, and it’s one we love so we thought we’d share it with you, just in case you haven’t seen it yet.

Two fathers, one bride, one aisle.

Perhaps one of the biggest traditions of a wedding is that of a father walking his daughter down the aisle and that’s exactly what Todd Bachman was doing for his daughter, Brittany, in Ohio last week. Then Todd suddenly stopped, seemingly abandoning his daughter mid-way down the aisle, and started to walk away from her.

The photos show Todd turn back and grab his daughter's stepdad, Todd Cendrosky’s hand. Bachman thought they both should take part in the ceremony and walk Brittany down the aisle because they’d both helped to bring her up and he believed it should be a shared honour.

Delia Blackburn, the wedding photographer, shared the photos on Facebook saying that there was not a dry eye in the house, including hers, and we don’t think there have been many dry eyes amongst the millions of people who have now read this heart-warming story.

Blackburn said she was lucky to have captured the moment and praised Bachman for his selfless act of kindness, "Families are what we make them...make it about your kids and not your ego. Congratulations Todd Bachman on showing your kids what true love really is...love for your children."

When we ask why people become heroic, research doesn’t really have an answer. Its possible heroes have more compassion or empathy, maybe there’s a hero gene or maybe it’s because of their levels of oxytocin—research by neuroeconomist Paul Zak has shown that this “love hormone” in the brain increases the likelihood you’ll demonstrate altruism. We don’t know for sure. We think heroism is the willingness to make a personal sacrifice for the benefit of others and that’s just what Bachman did.

It can be hard to be heroic. You may find yourself having to resist a voice inside your head urging you to save yourself, instead of carrying out an act of kindness that is purely for the benefit of others. It’s ignoring that voice and doing it anyway that makes us heroic. Of course it’s possible to do something for others which still helps you too, but whilst that can be noble it’s far more heroic to do something for others at a cost to yourself.

The photos from the Ohio wedding have gone viral on the web gaining almost 1.3 million likes and been shared 568,480 times since being posted to Facebook on 27th September. It’s clear that people have taken this story to their hearts and, like us, they love a tale of a touching act of kindness. We hope it’s inspired everyone who has read about it to pay it forward and undertake an act of kindness of their own. Wouldn’t that make the world a better place?

Strengths