GOOD NEWS Community Surprises Autistic Boy After No One Attends His B-Day Party
Florida sheriff’s deputies and firefighters saved the day for an autistic boy after no one showed up for his birthday party.
Sixteen children skipped out on 6-year-old Glenn’s birthday party, thrown by his mother, Ashlee Buratti, in their hometown of Osceola, Florida.
Buratti shared her disappointment in a post on the Osceola community’s private Facebook page on Feb. 8.
“Probably one of the biggest hurts you can have to see [is] how let down your child is when nobody shows up for them,” Buratti wrote, according to WSVN.
Buratti was shocked when sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and other community officials came together a few days later to throw Glenn another birthday party.
Today on “The Real Story,” Gretchen Carlson spoke with two Osceola County Sheriff’s Department Deputies who were involved in the party planning.
Sgt. Daryl Cunningham told Carlson that he felt terrible when he saw the Facebook post about Glenn.
“I read an article where I saw Glenn smiling up in the air in a helicopter,” he said. “When I read the story, I found out it was our helicopter. I was real touched by the story. I have kids. I felt terrible for Glenn, I felt terrible for the family … I contacted Glenn’s mom and explained to her that there was something we wanted to do as an agency to help Glenn out.”
Cunningham said that several community members and officials got together to purchase Glenn gifts. He added that they brought motorcycles, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles to the party for the boy.
Sgt. Kris Brewer said that she called in a special request for Glenn because he loves helicopters.
“Being in the position that I’m in, I was able to make a phone call,” Brewer said. “I called the pilot that I had on duty and said, ‘Look, while you’re up flying, if you can fly over this address and just wave at Glenn, I think it would make his day.'”
Watch the heartwarming video above.