Mom Lisa Jackson and her little 10-year-old boy Ben were left heartbroken after no one of Ben’s classmates came to his birthday party. The little boy from Southsea, Portsmouth, UK has high-functioning autism and has difficulties making friends at school.
Lisa invited around 25 children to Ben’s birthday party, but only two parents responded to the invite.
Even though they said that their son or daughter would be going to the party, nobody ever showed up.
“He was so excited and really looking forward to it,” she said.
“The party was arranged and paid for and Ben was excited about it so there was no way I could cancel it.
“I wrongly presumed that a few more would just turn up on the day but at least two were coming which was better than none at all.
“Everything was set up and Ben sat there eagerly waiting for everyone to turn up. 2pm came and went and nobody had arrived.”
“It was the most heartbreaking moment ever not only for me but for him too.”
This year, Lisa wanted to see a smile on her son’s birthday, so she took things into her own hands. She posted a plea on social media and told the story of what happened last year, and asked people to send Ben cards if they’d like.
Lisa didn’t expect her post to go viral, and sooner rather than later Ben had literally received thousands and thousands of birthday cards.
The post office at Portsmouth even had to use dedicated trolleys just for Ben’s mail.
“My other birthday was awful – this one is a big improvement,” said Ben.
“I could not believe my eyes. Thank you everyone – I have so many cards, I’m astonished,” his mom posted. “I would personally like to say a big heartfelt thank you to everyone one of you for your comments and messages. It means so much.
“I never expected to get such an overwhelming response to my post and am so grateful to you all.”
Even the delivery office manager from the Royal Mail was surprised and said that he’s never seen anything like it before.
“We’ve never had anything like it before. It’s been brilliant to be part of it.”
And it didn’t stop at just the birthday cards because the local community, as well as people on the internet, have come together to make Ben’s 11th birthday truly special. The local police and fire department have surprises in store for him, and a local community group will be organizing a birthday bash for Ben as well. People also raised money to purchase an iPad as a gift.
A birthday to never forget!
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