The young boy who captured the nation's attentions with his selfless and heart-warming act of generosity towards a homeless woman in Cork city last weekend, has received the prestigious Principal’s Award at Kilmagner National School.

11-year-old Isaac O’Donovan-Campbell was presented with the award by school principal Noreen Joyce, in the company of fellow pupils, teachers and his proud mother Imelda O’Donovan-Campbell.

Ms Joyce praised Isaac, a fifth-class pupil living in Curraghavoe, Mitchelstown for his generous spirit and said in a reversal of roles, he is teaching us all how we should act as people. The Avondhu spoke to Isaac and, recalling the event, he explained that he had seen a homeless lady in a sleeping bag and offered to buy her some food. He purchased a chicken burger, curly fries and a coke for the lady and went off to look for his mother.

When he found her, she explained that she too had purchased food for the same young lady. Isaac and Imelda then struck up a conversation with the woman.

Isaac explains: “She looked really young but it turned out she had three children - a six yaer-old, a four yaer-old and a six month old child. We asked would Santa be coming to them but she said she doesn’t think so because it would be hard for Santa to locate her. So we asked was she going to buy any gifts, but she said 'no, we can barely buy food, I haven’t eaten in the past three days, and that was the first meal we had'."

“So me and my mom gave a look, and we both knew what I was going to do, because I had been trying to do something nice this year for somebody. I was going to go to a hospital and see was there anybody that had no family and then come in on Christmas day and chat to them, but there was nobody like that in our local hospital.

“So we started going through shops and we bought some small gifts for the children, and we put them in different red bags, and for the older children we have them some sweets too. We came back and we took a picture just before we gave them to her. Then I handed them over to her and she starting crying and sobbing, and she was holding my mom's hand, and then my mom started poking in her bag looking for tissues for herself and her because we were all crying at that stage.

“Eventually she stopped crying and she was thanking us and she said nobody else had ever done this in her whole life,” said Isaac.

The remarkable act of kindness from such a young person has already garnered national attention and has been somewhat of a social media hit. Coming at a time when homelessness is at a critical level and the government are being called to act on the issue, this event brought a human side to homelessness; something Isaac's mother Imelda says is too often forgotten.

Speaking to The Avondhu, she described one incident involving Fermoy resident John Sweeney, a member of the 'Suspended Coffee' movement, where he had a conversation with a homeless person. “He said, 'I can’t change your situation, as much as I’d like to, I can’t. But I want you to know that I see you'. And I think that’s so profound. We walk past people that are down on their luck and it’s easier to cross the road, it’s easier to turn your head. But they’re real people.”

Imelda recalled the moment Isaac presented the woman with the presents for her three young children: “We called her by name, and it was the look on her face, the look on Isaac’s face, her being completely overwhelmed with gratitude, sobbing and looking for tissues for her and realising it’s not just tissues for her, I need them for us too.

“The three of us were just there with tears flowing down our faces. It was probably one of the most moving moments of my life really, that sense of pride towards Isaac for what he was doing, and the 'specialness' of being part of that. It was a unique moment. The joy is in giving, not receiving, but to actually experience that and for a child to experience it and say it was the first time he had ever seen someone cry tears of real gratitude. He said 'you’re always telling me it’s better to give than receive, this is the first time I’ve experienced it',” she said.

Ms Joyce, in her speech before presenting Isaac with his award, told those assembled: “As part of our school ethos, we try to instil certain core values in our pupils – especially how to show a deep respect for all, in how we speak to, react to and act towards others, respectful of their duties.

“Last Sunday while doing his Christmas shopping, Isaac’s generous spirit enabled him to step forward without judgement to help a young lady and he gave without being asked because he saw a need. It’s an example of role reversal and Isaac is teaching us all how we should be as people.”

After the presentation, Isaac’a fellow pupils gave their thoughts on his generous act and their feelings on helping others less fortunate.

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