In an effort to make the whole month of her son's birthday special, Carley Nickerson of Foxboro, Mass., asked people to give her son Danny greeting cards for his birthday.
Danny was diagnosed late last year with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a type of brain tumor that primarily affects children. Unlike other illnesses, DIPG has no known cure and patients who have the condition often only have about a year to live after diagnosis.
Treatment sessions and visits to the doctor take up Danny's time and forced him to stop attending school, so Carley wanted to make sure that Danny would have a wonderful time on his birthday. Because Danny loves to receive mail, Carley wanted to ensure that her son would receive plenty of cards on his birthday.
"Danny's birthday means so much to us this year. He loves going to the mailbox and finding mail with his name on it," Carley said.
Mail and packages started to arrive first in small numbers, but as Danny's story went viral, more and more people sent Danny cards and packages. People from other parts of the world such as those in Sweden, Australia, the Netherlands, China and the Philippines sent their greeting cards as well.
From 35 birthday cards that Danny received on July 12, the family has to go to the post office on a regular basis and rent a 10-foot van to bring home loads of cards and packages. Danny had received nearly 100,000 cards and 8,000 gift packages as of July 25, his birthday.
Picking up the mail and packages was made more special on Danny's big day. His family rode in two fire trucks sounding their sirens as they headed to pick up his mail at the post office, where he was given a little party and cakes.
"We came to our house with all of Danny's cousins and got into two firetrucks and road up to the post office with the sirens blaring to go get Danny's mail today! (we are close to 100,000 cards!!!!) And had a little birthday for him at the post office with the staff, they surprised him wth 2 cakes," Carley posted on Facebook, thanking all those who helped make Danny's birthday special.
Greetings continue to trickle in even after Danny's birthday. He also received greetings from celebrities. Professional wrestler Bill Goldberg posted a message for him on YouTube; Ashton Kutcher asked his fans to send Danny birthday wishes; and Justin Bieber greeted him on Facebook and Twitter.
