Thousands
of strangers - including Carrie Underwood and Elijah Wood - saved the birthday
of a 13-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome by sending him well wishes and
presents after learning that no one from his school had RSVP'd to his party.
After
Odin Camus, from Ontario, Canada, learned that he wouldn't have any friends
coming to his birthday celebration last Friday, his mom Melissa asked members
of a local Facebook group to text her teenage son on his new cell phone to help
lift his spirits. She also created a Facebook event for his bowling alley
birthday party and welcomed anyone who wanted to come.
Not
only did Odin receive more than 5,000 'happy birthday' text messages and calls
from around the world, he was also joined at his party by hundreds of people
who kindly showered him with presents.
In
her Facebook message, Melissa explained that 'Odin has some difficulty making
friends' because of his Asperger's, which is an autistic disorder that is
characterized by impaired social interaction.
She
admitted that her son has been bullied by his peers in the past and has
struggled to fit into school life as well as some of his classmates.
However,
Odin felt nothing but love on the night of his birthday.
Soon
after his mom shared her message on Facebook, local news website PTBO Canada
sent Odin a special message, while the hashtag #odinbirthday began trending on
Twitter, grabbing the attention of celebrities, Canadian sports teams and even
one politician.
'I think it’s
amazing how so many people actually care because not a lot of people where I
used to live cared about my birthday,' he said.
On Friday night,
Melissa took to Twitter to let everyone know that her son had a fabulous
birthday.
'This is Odins
mom, Mel. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has sent msgs!
'As Odin says-
BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!THANK YOU ALL! [sic]' she wrote.
AWWWW Culled
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