An eight-year-old boy has been lauded on social media after spending 70 pesos he won in a lottery game to buy tacos for an old man selling candy.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Karen Espinosa of Uruapan, Michoacán, wrote that she and her son Adalid were eating at a taquería when a viejito (old man) came in to sell lollipops to customers.

Seeing that he was having little success making sales, Adalid decided to give his lottery winnings to the candy vendor so that he could buy something to eat.

“I saw the viejito arrive to sell [lollipops] but nobody bought from him. He looked very sad and hungry,” Adalid told the newspaper El Universal.

“When I gave him the money, I saw that he only bought one taco so I asked my mom if we could buy him more so that he could eat well,” he added.

Espinosa agreed and the old man ended up eating three tacos: two bistec and one chorizo.

Adalid said that the man was crying as he ate, which in turn caused him to shed a few tears too.

“I cried because I saw him cry, I saw him wiping away his tears. When he finished [eating] he thanked me and gave me a hug,” he said.

Espinosa told El Universal that she knew that her son had a big heart but she was still surprised when she saw him hand over all the money he had won. He already had plans about where and how he was going to spend it, she said.

“As a mom, it fills me with joy. When I saw him go over to the man to give him the money, my heart melted . . .” she said.

In her Facebook post, Espinosa wrote that “sometimes as a mom I ask myself if I’m doing my job well . . . but actions like this provide answers to all my doubts.”

As of Saturday, the post had generated 211,000 reactions and been shared 105,000 times.

Among the comments from people who shared the post were: “God bless this beautiful big-hearted boy;” “We need more people like this this;” “Beautiful gesture;” and “This boy has found the true meaning of life.”

Source: El Universal (sp)