Non-verbal 11-year-old Joshie bakes dozens of Christmas pies to replace Michelin-Star Chef’s stolen holiday batch

An unlikely baker stepped in to help when a Michelin-starred chef in England had over 2,000 Christmas pies stolen on their way to a Christmas fair.

The story takes place in the northeast of the country at the St. Nicolas Fair in York, where Chef Tommy Banks, known for his Michelin-starred restaurant, was preparing 2,500 pies for the event.

However, the van transporting the pies to the event was stolen, driven off, and abandoned, with all the pies inside perishing.

Autistic 11-year-old Joshie Harris was reading the news with his father, and although he is non-verbal, he understood what was happening—that a man was sad, and that pies needed to be baked.

After finishing the news report, Joshie used his iPad, which serves as his communication tool. On it, he wrote, “I see sad man, pies finished.”

“Joshie doesn’t speak but cooking and baking is his way of showing creativity,” Dan Harris, Joshie’s father, told the BBC. “He aimed to demonstrate, especially during Christmas, that such incidents should not occur.”

Mr. Harris has been in touch with Chef Banks, and the family hopes to be able to hand off all the pies on Saturday. Any pies that Chef Banks can't use will be donated to a food bank, as shared by the family with the BBC.

“This illustrates that despite Joshie's inability to speak, he actively contributes to society by doing good.” said his father proudly.

Since then, Joshie has been occupied baking numerous pies of various flavors, with a particular fondness for his personal favorite, apple pie.