A dad got overwhelmed by people’s response after he appealed strangers to come to his autistic daughter’s birthday party as none of her friends had shown up.
Remi who is suffering from autism from the age of just 5 was heartbroken when she realized that no one came to celebrate her birthday with her in Abertillery, Wales.
The little soul, who was distressed on seeing just two people on a day which was so special for her, said to her mother: “Where are all of my friends?”
Remi’s family invited 10 of her friends, out of which eight didn’t even bother to reply. Two, however, contacted the family on the specified day just to tell that they won’t be coming due to illness.
“It was really very sad that none of them had bothered to respond really,” said PJ Robins, Remi’s dad.
Explaining how autistic children are affected by abrupt stress and feelings of being rejected, PJ said: “One of the things with the autistic spectrum is that last minute changes are terribly distressing, especially to Remi.
“We’d already told her about the party and that we’d invited her friends so she was expecting her friends to be there.
“At one point she turned around and said ‘Mommy, where are all of my friends?’ and that was like a knife in the heart.”
Instead of just grieving on the incident, PJ took a noteworthy decision and posted an appeal in a local community-based group on Facebook.
His post read: “Please, if anybody has some free time and has a child around my daughter’s age – would you be willing to help us make her party a day to remember.
“We don’t expect anything, not cards or gifts, the part is all paid for and there’s plenty of food, we just want some children to come help our little girl celebrate.”
The response of the community was extremely delightful for the entire family as 14 kids with their parents arrived at their home soon after and celebrated Remi’s birthday.
Besides them, several random individuals also arrived just to wish Remi a heartening ‘happy birthday.’
PJ’s appeal was shared more than a thousand times and he received several messages from people who viewed his post.
Speaking about the celebration, PJ said: “Remi was a little bit bewildered, if I’m honest.
“She had two friends there and then suddenly she had all these other people wishing her happy birthday.
“The response was truly overwhelming, and we’re still receiving messages from people in connection with the appeal, asking for our address so they can send cards, or drop in and meet Remi.”
Thanking the people, PJ said: “A lot of people have also reached out with their own stories of parenting children on the autistic spectrum, offering their support, play dates, and so on.
“Thank you to everybody who came down and brought their children.”
Replaced!