On your 14th birthday, chances are you were hoping to unwrap toys, the latest fashion or the newest gadget.
But for US teenager Dylan Greene, all he wanted was a vacuum cleaner.
Dylan Greene, who has autism, has been obsessed with vacuum cleaners ever since he was two years old. So for his 14th birthday the teen’s mum, Jodie Greene, decided to get him the greatest birthday present she could: she wrote to Dylan’s favourite vacuum company, Kirby, to tell them that her son had never been into ‘normal’ toys and that she had an ‘unusual request’ for his birthday.
10 thing parents of autistic children hate about Autism.
The 37-year-old then asked them for a vacuum demo to be done for her son’s birthday.
In the email, Dylan’s mum explained that her son spends hours each day watching videos about a variety of Kirbys, explaining that when he’s not watching something about them, he’s talking about them.
Offering to pay a flat fee, she suggested a salesman in training could come over and do a demo.
See this boy react to worst birthday present ever.
When the vacuum company received the email they were on board instantly.
The best bit of all? Not only did Kirby send a veteran Demo guy – Al Archie, they also sent Dylan the greatest gift of all: a brand new Kirby vacuum cleaner.
“At the end of the demonstration [he] gave my son a brand new Kirby vacuum,’ Ms Greene told the Daily Mail. ‘There was not a dry eye in the house.”
An incredibly honest conversation between a mother and her son.
Al spoke to the media after his demonstration and said that he’d arranged for the birthday boy to get a vacuum cleaner because he was in awe of the passion Dylan had for them.
“I wanted to do something for him,’ he said. ‘[It was] an opportunity to give something back,” he told the Daily Mail.
His mother was so dedicated to the vacuum themed birthday that she got a cake made that looked like a Kirby vacuum too.
This mother and son dance almost didn’t happen.
Mother (and vacuum salesman) of the year? We think so.
What’s the most meaningful birthday surprise you’ve ever been involved in?
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Every mothers wish. A tidy teenager. Bless him.
My ASD son is obsessed with rubbish trucks and recycling, so for his 9th birthday I took him to SITA one Australia's leading specialist in resource recovery, recycling and waste management facilities. I first rang them to see if they had any stickers, hats or pamphlets I could get for my son. They then suggested I bring him in to see how the whole operation works. My goodness the look on his face when I picked him up after school on his birthday and told him I was taking him somewhere for a surprise and we drove into SITA. The wonderful staff took him for a tour, unloaded rubbish truck for him and let him sit in the drivers seat and took photos. They collected all sorts of merchandise for him to take home. From what started as a strange phone call to the tip turned out to be the best birthday my son ever had.