Only 1 person RSVP’d to a party for a boy with autism, so a high school football team showed up to celebrate
Christian Larsen begged his mother, Lindsay, to throw him a ninth birthday party so he could invite all of his friends. Finally, she gave in, sending out invitations — and waiting.
But only one person RSVP’d.
Christian, who has autism, attends Hillsdale Elementary in Meridian, Idaho. At the picnic marking the end of the school year, Larsen says, she saw firsthand how some of the children interacted with her son: either ignoring Christian or telling him no when he asked them to attend his party. It made her think that there might be something more to the lack of responses.
On May 31, Lindsay posted on Facebook about the lack of responses, and her friend Blythe Ben-David stepped in to make a birthday miracle happen.
Ben-David lives in South Texas, far from the Larsen family. She couldn’t be there for the party, so she reached out to Dan Holtry, a family friend and the football coach at Nampa High School in Idaho, asking if his team could attend the party.
“The players jumped at the opportunity,” Holtry wrote in an email to CNN. “They were ready and willing to celebrate with Christian. Within seconds of a sent text they were 100 percent in.” They showed up chanting his name.
“I know that Christian felt amazed and blessed by the turnout,” his mother said. “He talked about it for days. One of the best things about his personality, is that he is always looking for the positive. He didn’t question why the players were there, he just loved it. He has said multiple times that it was the best birthday ever!”