Upstate mom thanks Hells Angels for helping keep her son's memory alive on what would have been his 21st birthday

CLEMSON, SC (FOX Carolina) – An Upstate woman said the visiting Hells Angels motorcycle club members are helping keep her late son’s memory alive.

Christy Hubbard shared her experience on Facebook Wednesday, on what would have been her son, Clay Porter’s 21^st birthday.

She said Clay took his own life in September of 2018 for reasons that the family still does not know or understand.

Hubbard said she set out Wednesday morning to “spread love and kindness in honor of Clay’s birthday,” so she went to Clemson, where she encountered a group of bikers, as the Hells Angels are in town for their annual summer rally.

Here’s what she said happened next:

If you know me... I am not intimidated easily and I literally think these guys were more worried about this crazy lady than I was worried.. Anyways I asked if I could talk to them for a second and of course they said yes, I gave them Clays card and a bracelet and asked if he could ride along with them on their rides. I told them his story and how today was his birthday. Of course I cried, and let me tell you the compassion that poured out of this motorcycle group. They told me Clay would be with them and asked if they could pray for me and my family. So right there in the middle of Comfort Inn parking lot in Clemson, they prayed for me.”

She went on to say that she learned an important lesson from her meeting Wednesday morning, and hopes it’s one others can learn from as well.

“The Hells Angels have a stigma that is carried with them as much as the word suicide does. We all have to knock these walls down and realize there is much more inside the book than just the cover we see on the outside. We have to take time to get to know others, to care, to show compassion and love one another! God did not put us here to hate and judge. So today I ask you, in honor of Clay, to smile or engage someone you normally wouldn’t. You never know what you might find, just like I did this morning.”