We always look forward to our birthday parties, but for kids, it can be especially crushing when things don’t go right. Youngsters spend weeks planning and excited for the chance to get all their friends together to do exactly what they want and eat yummy cake.
But for Dominic Giatras, his party for his seventh birthday started off on the wrong foot.
While he waited at the venue for his friends to come celebrate with him, he was quickly disappointed. Only one of his friends showed up, but after a disappointing start, the town’s Fire Department took it upon themselves to turn his day around.
For Dominic’s birthday, his parents rented a gym play area to celebrate with all his friends.
It was going to be a perfect birthday. GymQuest, in Plainfield, IL, is a gymnastics and tumbling venue that provides youngsters with the space and equipment to run around and play safely. It has everything from trampolines, to foam pits, and even a rock climbing wall and a trapeze! What kid wouldn’t want to go to that party?
But despite how cool Dominic’s birthday sounded, only one of his friends came to celebrate.
Despite inviting 20 guests, almost none of them showed up. After 15 minutes of waiting, only one of his guests arrived, and he was the only one who appeared for the entire party.
But the employees at GymQuest were determined to help Dominic have a great birthday. It turned out, complete strangers were also invested in helping to save his party.
A parent from a previous party saw the drama unfold, and fortunately, she was married to a firefighter.
When the firefighters heard what was going on, they immediately sprang to the rescue. Lt. Eric Jensen said:
“Absolutely, the look on everybody’s faces was ‘let’s go there and help out.'”
So the Plainville Fire Department rolled up to Dominic’s birthday party for an epic surprise.
They brought one of their fire engines along in order to have the ultimate surprise. Although Dominic was standing sad, he was about to brighten up.
Twelve firefighters arrived at the lobby of GymQuest to perform a serious birthday rescue mission. Their arrival changed everything for Dominic.
When he saw the firefighters, Dominic literally jumped for joy.
Their arrival changed everything for the little boy that day. Now, he had suitable friends for playtime, and the team was happy to accommodate. While at the gym, everyone had a blast jumping into the foam pits, and running around. They even got to play with Nerf guns!
Dominic told WGN News about one of his favorite parts:
“And I just pushed a firefighter in there, and then I jumped on him!”
For Dominic, this was the best possible outcome for a 7th birthday.
In addition to being heroes in times of life-threatening emergencies, these firefighters were heroes for a little boy. Hopefully, now the amazing firefighters are all that Dominic will remember from that day.
Learn more about the firefighters stepping up to save the day in the video below!
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