In his 32-year-career, Russell O鈥橤rady has become a local icon and delighted customers with his 鈥渃heery grin鈥� at a McDonald鈥檚 restaurant in Sydney, Australia.

O鈥橤rady, 50, was born with Down syndrome and has been working with the fast-food chain since 1986 鈥攗nwittingly becoming a trailblazer for people with intellectual disabilities with his long tenure.

Next to Ronald McDonald, he鈥檚 become one of the most iconic people at the restaurant in west Sydney. A colleague wrote in an email that he鈥檚 become a 鈥渂it of an icon locally.鈥�

鈥淩ussell鈥檚 impact on people in his community is without doubt exceptional,鈥� said Wynn Visser, assistant manager of JobSupport, a program which helps find paid employment for people with intellectual disabilities.

鈥淓verybody knows him and they really love him because he always stops to shake hands and say 鈥楬i鈥� to everyone he knows.鈥�

O鈥橤rady鈥檚 decision to turn in his uniform is due in large part to health reasons that come with his age.

鈥淎s his family, our objective is to find him new activities to keep him both healthy and active in his community,鈥� she said, adding he鈥檒l now spend more time having dog therapy; and socializing with friends at the gym, bowling alley and local retirement home.

She said plenty of customers will miss O鈥橤rady as many would regularly go into the restaurant just to see him.

鈥淗e has only told me he will miss seeing his friends at work (who are mainly young girls who make a fuss of him), his boss and all the people who call in to see him,鈥� Visser said, speaking on behalf of O鈥橤rady and his family.

When he was 18 years old, O鈥橤rady became one of the first people to have access to JobSupport program which helped shape his role and provided him vocational training.

鈥淩ussell鈥檚 tenure is truly remarkable,鈥� Visser said, adding that the program partners with 75 McDonald鈥檚 restaurants in the country. On average, their clients with moderate intellectual disabilities work in the fast-food chain for nine years.

His long-standing time there hasn鈥檛 gone unnoticed. In 2012, O鈥橤rady was profiled on by Disability Employment Australia, an organization which represents the disability employment sector throughout the country.

Since then, he鈥檚 worked a variety of different tasks including cleaning and clearing trays, sweeping the floors, greeting customers, serving up orders and packaging party boxes.