Durban North tot slides to fame
Anyone can be famous these days, just ask two-and-a-half-year-old Parker Lewis, who gained viral fame when an adorably funny video of him slipping down a slide was shared on YouTube.
SOCIAL media has thrust a Durban North toddler into the spotlight after a video clip of him attempting his first skid down a slide went viral.
The adorably funny 10 second clip, in which two-and-a-half-year-old Parker Lewis can be seen accidentally and repeatedly bumping his head against the edge of the slide at the People’s Park at Moses Mabhida Stadium, was even shared by international celebrities, Justin Bieber and Dane Cook.
Dad, Nic Lewis, believes that little Parker’s skid went horribly wrong when he stuck his foot against the edge of the slide in an attempt to slow himself down, but the momentum threw him off balance, causing him to bump his head.
“It was the first time he made an attempt to go down the slide. He had always been too scared. Luckily he was fine afterwards. He simply stood up, rubbed his head, looked at me and started laughing as soon as he realised that I was laughing, and then he immediately wanted to go again,” said Nic.
Parker’s mom, Kelly Lewis, originally shared the clip on Facebook which was an instant hit with family and friends, and soon they were inundated with requests to post the clip on YouTube.
“We have family and friends all over the world, and some friends on Facebook suggested that it would be easier to share the clip with our circle of friends and relatives if we posted it on YouTube. Eventually we got so tired of the requests that Nic opened a profile and uploaded it. Neither one of us thought it would be this popular,” said Kelly.
Since then the clip had been shared onto numerous sites such as 9Gag, Reddit and LiveLeak.
Adding to the clip’s popularity was the fact that it gained more than 26 million views after American comedian, Dane Cook, shared it on his Facebook page. It was also an instant hit among Canadian pop star Justin Bieber’s fans after he shared it on his Instagram account. The post received more than 433 000 likes and 41 000 comments.
Even Jackass stuntman, Bam Margera, could not resist sharing the endearing clip, saying, “Somebody get this kid a bag of frozen peas.”
When asked how they felt about Parker’s fame Kelly said she was not really fazed. “We know that he is okay. It is exciting that we managed to catch that on camera. Now we also get share this really fun and cool story with him when he is older,” she said.
