By: Anuradha
McDonald’s is famous all over the world and that is not only because of its crispy foods. Dining at Mac has become a culture and this is another beautiful story from there.
Russel O’Grady suffered from Down syndrome and when he was 18 years old, he joints McDonald’s staff. He joints the Sydney West branch and he was soon famous among the customers and colleagues. When he first joint in 1986, it was really new for people with various disabilities to work in careers. His supervisor, Courtney Purcell said;
“We have to go regular customers who come in to see Russell on Thursday and Friday, and the staff looks after him, so we are going to miss him”.
The career changed Russel’s life in a drastic way and Russel’s approach to the field changed the name of McDonald’s too. His dad, Geoff who was so proud of his son also said that people have stopped in the street to shake his son’s hand. “He is very affectionate, dearly loved and appreciated to such an extent that we just don’t believe it”
It was not easy for Russel at first. He started with the company on work experience through the job support scheme but proved that he can really work hard and that he will move through the ranks. Within some time, he secured a full-time job packing party boxes and he is 50 years old now. He has decided to retire as it would be the best time for him to relax with all his health conditions.
But surely, most of his customers would miss him a lot because he was such a unique figure with a nice smile. He gave a good message to the whole world by proving that people with down syndrome can actually do better than what we think of them to be.