Cheltenham dad's Twitter appeal sees autistic son receive hundreds of birthday cards
Birthday cards and presents were sent from as far as Japan and Australia...
A 24-year-old from man from Cheltenham has received hundreds of birthday cards this year following an appeal by his dad on Twitter.
Over 500 cards were sent to Ryan Murphy for the third year running after his dad, Adam Murphy, decided to begin an annual Twitter appeal three years ago.
Ryan, who's autistic and has special needs, never used to receive birthday cards apart from his parents and the family pets - and has never been invited to a birthday party.
This year he was overwhelmed with birthday cards and presents being sent from all over the world when he celebrated his special day on December 9.
Adam Murphy said: "We had ones from Japan, Australia, Denmark, the United States.
"There were lots of cards that had been sent from kids at school, including a class in Turkey who all wrote a card to Ryan.
"Ryan was so excited. He sat there for 3 hours and opened them all. He opened it, looked at the front, then inside and then turned the card over and looked where it was manufactured as well.
"He did that with every single card. It was phenomenal."
Adam was apprehensive to make the appeal this year due to the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had been on people, and thought it may not be an appropriate time.
"I wasn't so sure, but after seeing Ryan get excited opening a letter a few weeks before his birthday, I thought I had to do it", Adam continued.
"It was lovely watching Ryan open the cards. But the most amazing thing that's come from it is the community it's opened us up to.
"People really care. Parents send messages saying their child also doesn't receive cards. We've also had other autistic people write to us and say they are in a similar situation too. So the response has been amazing."
Adam's determined to carry on the annual appeal and hopefully start a card sharing campaign, allowing autistic people to send cards to one another for their birthday.
"I'd love to get a big card company involved, where we can set something up to let people send birthday cards to people with autism on their birthdays so they don't feel so isolated and lovely."
If you or a family member have autism and need help or advice, go to www.autism.org.uk