The 4-year-old boy became a hit with the tourists after they found out about his daily routine

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A young kid has been a hit with tourists visiting Liverpool after spending three years waving sightseeing buses.

Four-year-old Kay Gardiner-Hewerth moved into his grandmother’s house in Mosley Hill when he was just 12 months old after his father’s death.

Since then, he has started a ritual of waving to every Liverpool City Sights tour bus, with nine buses daily passing from his home.

Read more: A four-story teen fell to her death in a tragic accident

To celebrate Kai’s start at school, the company decided to give him a VIP ride in one of their buses and they surprised with a warm banner.

Heather Hoerth, Kay’s grandmother, said the rest of the family started waving at passing bus drivers, and the drivers scrambled to return the salute.

She said, “Kai’s mother moved home after his father died, he was only one at the time. One day, we were sitting on the front stairs waiting for his mother to come home when we noticed the bus.

“He started waving and the driver waived. He was very happy. Now, every driver waves him when they pass and all the tourists cheer a little.”

4-year-old Kay Gardiner Hewerth of Allerton waves to the tour bus as it passes his house (Photo: Andy Tiby)

“He’s waved to them for the past three years and loved every minute of it. He could be in the garden and he’d dash through the house to get to the front window so he could wave.

“When he went to school he was upset about missing the bus, but I said you can wave to them then, there are still two days a day when he comes home.

“We got stuck on summer vacation, and that’s what kept him busy. He has his own bus wave and he’s smiling now.”

Drivers were left baffled earlier this week when Kay didn’t come home to greet him before Heather made it clear he had just started elementary school.

Thanks to Kai for keeping their spirits up, owner Philip Olivier decided, putting up a sign that read “Good luck starting school Kai. We’ll miss your wave.”

Heather said Kay was devastated by the lockdown when tour buses were unable to run and explained that the pandemic had been “really hard” for him.

She said, “He’s an only child and he loves his habits, he really doesn’t like change, so it was terrible.

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“He was over the moon when the first person came back in May. It was a great VIP experience, they were talking to him over the intercom and he could speak back on the microphone, he was well behaved.

“He could easily grow up to be a driver himself, has a great transportation orientation, watches cars go through the house and can name all of them.

4-year-old Kay Gardiner Hewerth of Allerton waves to the tour bus as it passes his house (Photo: Andy Tiby)

“It has been difficult for the whole family since his father passed away. We talk about his father all the time but he doesn’t really understand the situation.

“Waving Kai really lifted our spirits.”

The four-year-old has become so popular that now tourists are interested in him in trip advisor reviews.

Philip said that Kai’s smiling face and Kai’s wave never failed to lift the morale of his staff and they were happy to see him again after the shutdown.

Philippe Olivier with Kay in front of the banner (Photo: UGC)

He said: “We were able to open again in May after closing but we didn’t get many customers at first. And when the drivers came back they said there was a good worker on the streets.

“People were cheering as if it was a sign of getting back to normal so we decided to continue to tour for this reason.

“Kai has become such an important part of our tours and it really came home on Monday because he wasn’t there. Kai always cheers up the staff when they go through the past.

“Kai has given us this reminder because we do our job, we can’t thank him enough. He has given our employees a passion for what they do. As long as there are people like Kai, we will continue to do what we do.”

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