Illinois mall gifts Nerf gun to 4-year-old boy after Santa denied his request
CHICAGO (NewsNationNow) — A mall in Norridge, Illinois, gifted a 4-year-old boy with a Nerf gun after a video of one of their mall Santas bringing the child to tears after telling him he could not bring a Nerf gun for Christmas, saying, “no guns,” went viral.
Harlem Irving Plaza sent another mall Santa to the boy’s home one day after the original December 6 incident.
The second video, posted to Facebook by the boy’s grandmother, shows the Santa knocking on their door. Sabella DeCarlo, Michael’s mother, can be heard telling him to answer it.
The Santa can be heard telling Michael, “So there was a mistake made yesterday? Well, we’re so sorry about that, okay?”
The Santa then asks to come inside and presents the boy with a gift box that comes up to his chin. Michael begins to open it and exclaims, “This is crazy, this thing!”
The mall gifted the boy with a Nerf gun, the toy he asked for.
The original video shows Michael sitting at a table across from Santa at the mall. Michael told Santa he would like a Nerf gun. The Santa replied saying, “No, no guns.”
DeCarlo told Storyful she thought maybe the Santa did not hear her son correctly, so she chimes in saying loudly, “Nerf gun.” The Santa responded, “no, not even a Nerf gun,” adding, “if your dad wants to get it for you, that’s fine. But I can’t bring it to you.”
DeCarlo edited her original Facebook post showing the initial incident to say that the mall had responded quickly with “kindness and understanding.”
“We thought it was very kind and we’re grateful for their quick response to restore my son’s faith in Santa,” DeCarlo said.