Odin Camus, from Peterborough, Ontario, was turning 13 without a party to mark the celebration.
That’s because of the 15 people that his mother, Melissa Camus, invited to what was supposed to be a fun afternoon for Odin, none of them RSVP’d. She was worried that because Odin has Asperger’s syndrome, he struggles to make friends and gets bullied at school.
Like any loving mother, Melissa wanted to make Odin feel “like people care for him,” so she tried save the day by asking help from her Facebook friends.
Melissa also changed her plans and decided to take him bowling instead. In the hopes that people would show up to wish Odin a happy birthday, she set up a Facebook event to let people know.
Word quickly spread, and in no time, more than 5,000 people clicked “attending”.
Within 48 hours, Odin was receiving tweets and text messages from all over the world.
https://twitter.com/sladurantaye/status/579068191072112640
Some well-wishers were sweet enough to tweet drawings of him and banners with their birthday greetings.
Odin received thousands of text messages, videos, and virtual birthday cards.
Hey @WhistleStopLife hook Odin up with some #poutine! Look, he loves it! #OdinBirthday @Ptbo_Canada pic.twitter.com/KW1g3Y1NH5
— Wilkins Art & Creative Inc. (@wilksart) March 20, 2015
#odinbirthday Happy Birthday!!!! from your friends in Green 🙂 pic.twitter.com/PB6R5drJXg
— D-Man (@madtuxca) March 21, 2015
@Ptbo_Canada Happy 13th Birthday Odin! Love, #WonderWoman and #Batman #odinbirthday pic.twitter.com/fF83qbGF2V
— Ashley Mary Nunes (@Girl1der) March 20, 2015
Before long, #Odin and #OdinBirthday were trending topics in Canada.
The count is in – more than 32,000 #odinbirthday tweets! http://t.co/njIAOXlJZV pic.twitter.com/XsMyHKhmvs
— Twitter Canada (@TwitterCanada) March 23, 2015
From celebrities to politicians to sports teams to local TV personalities, tweets were pouring in to wish this young man a happy birthday.
Happy Birthday, Odin!
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) March 20, 2015
.@pmharper and I are wishing Odin a wonderful 13th birthday- we hope you had a great party. #odinbirthday
— Laureen Teskey Harper (@LaureenHarper) March 21, 2015
Heard about a sweet boy named Odin & his birthday. Really proud of Peterborough for making it special! Happy birthday, buddy! #odinbirthday
— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) March 21, 2015
Wishing Odin a very happy 13th birthday today! Hope you have a great day. Bonne fête! #OdinBirthday
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 20, 2015
Happy birthday Champ! #OdinBirthday pic.twitter.com/O4pnnuK78O
— Wally Buono (@WallyBuono) March 21, 2015
Happy birthday Odin from the gang at CityNews! #odinbirthday pic.twitter.com/9bzf5m8J5P
— CityNews Toronto (@CityNewsTO) March 20, 2015
Happy 13th Birthday to our new friend Odin! Help him celebrate #Peterborough: http://t.co/5UqIVQBUmx #OdinBirthday pic.twitter.com/PJpdB9mBpH
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 20, 2015
When Odin and his family showed up to the bowling alley that night, they were met with a cheering crowd of people.
Hundreds of strangers who saw the event on Facebook kept their promise, and turned up to Odin’s birthday party with gifts and balloons.
They even had a band!
Some random Samaritan even hired a limo for the long trip from their house to the bowling alley.
Odin's arrival at his party. #odinbirthday pic.twitter.com/WjJqmtZLU2
— Joelle Kovach (@JoelleKovach) March 21, 2015
There were hugs and kisses being thrown all around. But mostly directed at Odin.
There were tears. Lots and lots of tears.
And cake, too. One super cute, sprinkled cake.
A little girl made this cake and dropped it off! @Ptbo_Canada Is the best city in the world!! ❤️ #odinbirthday pic.twitter.com/iIzHLE9mu1
— Whistle Stop (@WhistleStopLife) March 20, 2015