People who suffer from Down syndrome have a difficult time getting by in society. They are accustomed to the  stares and discrimination, which is why the father of a young man with Down syndrome is trying to change the way sufferers are perceived by the world.

Jeff Church took to social media to reveal how his son helped him get through the worst day of his life.

Jeff explained that his son JJ helped him get out of a state of severe depression simply by being there for him. Here’s what he had to say:

“It was long ago… I was at the end of my rope. I had just received a phone call that made everything in life even worse.

I felt my world was collapsing around me. I was lost. And with that one call, I had given up hope.

Too emotionally spent to even stand, I broke down in that big empty home. It was dark, dusty and cold. I cried with the heartache of a child. And all I could hear was my cries echoing back at me.

Then I heard JJ running up the stairs from his room. He found me in my master bedroom on the floor, in the dark curled up against the bed. He knew to keep the lights off. He saw I was inconsolable….”

Instead of asking me what’s wrong like someone else might, JJ rocked me. He sat on the floor next to me and he held me tight. And he rocked me.

And JJ told me: ‘It go be okay. It go be okay. It go be okay. It go be okay’ in perfect rhythm as he rocked me. ‘It go be okay. It go be okay.’

That was a rough night. And JJ got me through it. That night JJ was beyond his years.

JJ has his limitations. He has cognitive delay. He stutters a bit conveying his thoughts.

But when it comes to moments of the heart, they’re compassionate and understanding with no conditions. That makes them genuine and real.

We should all have a little bit of Down Syndrome in us. They’re way nicer people than we are.”

Jeff sure is lucky man to have a son like JJ!