A VIDEO of a Kevin the Carrot-obsessed Richmond teen receiving a giant stuffed toy of his favourite character has spread joy to thousands of people around the world.

Marcus Weston, 16, is autistic and was born with rare cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome, which means he has several health issues including hearing loss and congenital heart defects.

The video shows Marcus' excitement as his dad Gary returns home with a giant Kevin the Carrot toy from Aldi supermarket.

 

His mum, Sam Weston, said: "Marcus has autism and has quite a few obsessions – and Kevin the Carrot from the Aldi adverts is one of them.

"He's got quite a few of the small stuffed toys, but the giant ones always sell out really quickly.

"Marcus had seen that Aldi was due to get some of the giant toys in, so Gary snuck out early on the day to be at Aldi for opening time.

"We didn't want to tell Marcus to get his hopes up, but he kept asking where his dad had gone so early on a Sunday morning!

"When Gary was almost home he rang us to let us know, and my friend filmed Marcus' reaction to seeing Gary arrive home with it."

The video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times after it was shared in Aldi shopper Facebook groups, and Aldi also retweeted the video on Twitter.

Mrs Weston, a teacher at Richmond School, said she was overwhelmed with the kind messages they had received on social media.

She said: "I think because the video is so joyous, it has really lifted the spirits of everyone who has seen it. We have had some lovely gifts delivered to us, sometimes from total strangers, including one lady from Scotland who sent Marcus a Scottish Kevin the Carrot."

"It has been a very difficult year for everyone, but for Marcus particularly it has been tough. Marcus had to shield for months after the first lockdown, along with us and his two sisters, but by the summer we decided to ask his doctors if we could get out for walks.

"Thankfully, they agreed, and we finally raised enough money for a special all-terrain wheelchair for Marcus so we had some adventures in the outdoors." To view the video, visit https://www.facebook.com/kellie.butterworth.5/videos/10159140496453991.