A boy with autism, who in a moment of crisis, lay down in the middle of the busy Varis-Koropiou avenue, was helped by former coach and basketball player Dimitris Papanikolaou.

The incident happened at noon on Sunday, during rush hour.

The child lay in the road looking “like he had an epileptic seizure” as cars drove past him.

Then, Dimitris Papanikolaou, who was passing by, got out of his car, asked the drivers to stop, lay down next to the boy, “entered his world”, they talked for a while and finally convinced him to get up from the road and walk away with him to the safety of the sidewalk.

Dimitris Papanikolaou made a related post with a video of the incident, where he addresses “a warm request, do not make light of the child’s parents. Many times these are difficult situations that have to be managed”

@aria.dimitris Today since it’s already known, after we were on an expressway for about 10 minutes, I saw a young man on the ground, refusing to be touched by adults as they tried to pull him aside. I looked to see if there was any blood around or a crashed vehicle and I didn’t see any. I took a quick look in the mirror to judge if I could help or if I was going to cause a lot of death. I understood that this is low-functioning autism in crisis. I told everyone to leave around me and to stop with a triangle behind the car because I know it will take time to get him from there, since when someone is in crisis, among other things, their powers multiply. We lay together on the tarmac at first without touching him at all and I entered his world. When I realized that he was ready and that he trusts me, I asked him to take my arm and go to the edge. It is important to be informed. And I hope that in cases like this when EKAB and the police are called, they are trained in autism. Please do not take it lightly with the child’s parents. Many times these are difficult situations that have to be managed. Finally, I will close with something Tasos Livaditis has said. And when we don’t die for each other, we’re already dead. We risked yes, but today we will sleep better. ❤️🙏 #a#autisma#autismawareness ♬ Million Reasons – Lady Gaga

The text of Dimitris Papanikolaou’s post

“Today as it has already become known, after we were on the expressway for about 10 minutes, I saw a young man on the ground and refusing to be touched by adults as they tried to pull him aside. I looked to see if there was any blood around or a crashed vehicle and I didn’t see any. I took a quick look in the mirror to judge if I could help or if I was going to cause a lot of death.

I understood that this is low-functioning autism in crisis. I told everyone to leave around me and to stop with a triangle behind the car because I know it will take time to get him from there, since when someone is in crisis, among other things, their powers multiply.

We lay together on the tarmac at first without touching him at all and I entered his world. When I realized that he was ready and that he trusts me, I asked him to take my arm and go to the edge.

It is important to be informed. And I hope that in cases like this when EKAB and the police are called, they are trained in autism. Please do not take it lightly with the child’s parents. Many times these are difficult situations that have to be managed.

Finally, I will close with something Tasos Livaditis has said. And when we don’t die for each other, we’re already dead. Yes, we were in danger, but today we will sleep better.”