"Doctor Who" actor Peter Capaldi recorded a heart-warming video message for a bereaved nine-year-old boy with autism who recently lost his grandmother.
According to Ross Goodall, Thomas' father, the 56-year-old actor gave the young boy the strength to attend his grandmother's funeral, wrote The Guardian.
KMBC reported that Goodall, a resident of North Baddesley, England, lost his grandmother in early October marking the young man's first experience at the loss of a loved one.
Thomas apparently wrote Capaldi -- his favorite character in the show "Doctor Who" -- he was preparing to go to his grandmother's funeral and the actor responded with the message found below.
In the 42-second-clip, Capaldi thanked Thomas for the letter and told the grieving boy that sometimes bad and sad things happen.
"Because you see, when Clara and I are traveling around in time and space, sometimes bad things happen to us. And you know what, Thomas? Sometimes sad things happen to us too. So, it's nice to know that there's somebody like you out there who's on our side. And you should know that we're on your side too," said the actor
The actor closed his message with, "So, you look after yourself, you take care, be happy. Bye."
"When he said 'sometimes sad things happen', it was as though he was mentioning it (the bereavement) without mentioning it," said his father Ross Goodall to The Guardian.
As a child diagnosed with autism, "Thomas only sees black and white - there is no grey area - and he has taken it to mean that you can be happy, even though sad things happen," continued the grateful father. "That was when he decided that he wanted to go to the funeral. Up until then, he didn't want anything to do with it but he was even comforting his sister. He was a different child. Normally, anything out of his comfort zone comes with consequences."
In addition to the personal message that meant the world to Thomas, Capaldi wrote a separate letter to Ross detailing how to arrange a tour of the set.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or sometimes referred to as simply "autism," are brain-based, lifelong disorders that affect a person's behavior as well as social and communication skills.
Capaldi began the role of The Doctor in 2013 and currently stars in the series' eighth season.
Since Ross Goodall posted the video on YouTube, the clip has been viewed over 750,000 times.
