Man With Down Syndrome Receives over 30,000 Birthday Cards

A man in France with Down’s syndrome received over 30,000 birthday cards when he celebrated his big day recently thanks to a post from his family on Facebook that went viral. Lucien Parisseaux posted on the social networking site asking for his friends to send a postcard to his son Manuel because he loved receiving them, and it would make his day.

“Hello everyone. I have a request to make to all my Facebook friends. My son Manuel will be 30 on 11/22/14 and he loves to receive postcards. My son has Down’s syndrome. I come to you to ask you to take a few minutes of your time to send a small card and to pass this information to all your friends so the chain doesn’t get broken. I thank you all for your gesture, which will make my Manu so happy”.

The post quickly went viral, getting over 120,000 shares, and as a result the postcards and envelopes started coming in from all over the world. Facebook temporarily shut down the account believing it to be a scam, but Manuel’s mother Jacqueline posted it on her page too, which kept the momentum going. Eventually, over 30,000 pieces of mail arrived from everywhere and anywhere, and a lorry was needed to deliver them all to the family home.