Firefighters' kind-hearted gesture for boy after one friend shows up for his birthday party
A little boy has managed to celebrate his birthday twice thanks to kind-hearted firefighters who found out only one friend turned up to his birthday party.
Six-year-old Cooper, from South Carolina in the US, was thrown a second party after Port Royal Fire Department was tipped off about the poor turnout.
The department took to its Facebook page to share images of the celebration after a member of the community gave them a call to explain Cooper’s situation.
“We jumped on board and said we’ll do whatever we can to make sure he has a great birthday and that more than one child shows up,” Beaufort firefighter Ross Vezin told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“We made arrangements to pick him up from school along with his mom and brother, and we brought him to the bowling alley where we had another engine company there, along with a biker group called Bikers Against Bullies.”
The fire department was also able to bring nearly 75 other kids from school to celebrate alongside Cooper, whose mother Nicoala Shiflet said he had difficulty making friends because he suffers from autism.
“They had cake and presents and got to do some bowling,” Mr Vezin said, adding the party came to be known as “Cooper’s Birthday 2.0”.
From riding in a fire truck to seeing the motorcycles from Bikers Against Bullies and even being welcomed by so many new friends, Mr Vezin is certain Cooper loved his celebration.
And it will not be the last time the little boy gets to hang out with the firefighters responsible for the party.
“We’re also going to have him up next week,” Mr Vezin said.
“We’re going to give him a fire department T-shirt and a tour of our fire station.”
