“I used to work at family fun land. He used to come in every day and we would play basketball,” Markus said. 

“His carer approached me one day and told me I should really be a carer. Patrick was a breath of fresh air.”

Then, two months ago, Markus came on board as Patrick’s carer.

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“We’ve become so close and now we work together,” he said. 

To honour this new-found friendship, the pair have decided to give back to the community. Together, they will be raising money for Griffith Autism Support Group through selling shirts.

“I wanted to do something for international disability day and basically give back to the community,” Mr Toi said. 

Because Patrick provided the inspiration, Mr Toi wanted to find a way to incorporate him. 

“Patrick has opened my eyes up to a whole new world. He’s helped me let go of the things I was worried about. I figured, how about we use Patrick’s hand print? he’s the inspiration for this.”

People can view the shirts, featuring Patrick’s handprint at Dom’s Motors or Tristan’s Barbershop.