American Boy Offers Home to Syrian Boy in Letter to Obama

Six-year-old Alex reads his letter to President Obama (screenshot from video posted to President Obama's Facebook)

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Last month, images of a bloody, wounded 5-year-old Syrian boy in an ambulance captured the world's attention. The boy had suffered head injuries when a bomb hit his family's apartment building in Aleppo. The boy was identified as Omran Daqneesh.

This week, another little boy has captured the world's attention. A 6-year-old American named Alex wrote about Omran in a letter to President Barack Obama.

Alex is from the state of New York. He wrote to the president after he saw the images of Omran. He wrote that his family would like to offer him a home here in the United States.

Alex opened his letter this way: “Dear President Obama, Remember the boy who was picked up by the ambulance in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to our home?”

Alex wrote that that he would like to share his bicycle with Omran, and that his younger sister would share her toys, as well. He also wrote that he “has a friend at school from Syria named Omar. I will introduce him to Omar.”

President Obama posted a video on Facebook Wednesday of Alex reading his letter. It has been viewed almost 8 million times.

In the post, Obama described Alex as “a young child who has not learned to be cynical or suspicious or fearful of other people because of where they come from, how they look, or how they pray."

“Imagine what the world would look like if we were,” the president wrote. “Imagine the suffering we could ease and the lives we could save."

The president also mentioned Alex's letter earlier this week at a United Nations meeting on the refugee crisis.

People have reacted to Alex's words on social media. One Facebook user wrote, “A six year old who has more humanity, love and understanding than most adults.”

Another said, “I wish there were billions of kids that were raised just like this little boy.”

And that's What's Trending Today.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Ashley Thompson wrote this report. Caty Weaver was the editor.

Words in This Story

ambulance - n. a vehicle used for taking hurt or sick people to the hospital especially in emergencies

cynical - adj. believing that people are generally selfish and dishonest

suspicious - adj. causing a feeling that something is wrong or that someone is behaving wrongly

humanity - n. the quality or state of being kind to other people or to animals