HALIFAX – A 13-year-old Ontario teen who garnered national attention after no one responded to his birthday invitation was promoted to the rank of honourary commander in the Royal Canadian Navy.
Odin Camus has Asperger’s syndrome and his mom said that can make it difficult for him to communicate and make friends.
He shot to social media fame in March after a Facebook post she wrote explaining how the teen failed to receive any RSVPs for his birthday party went viral. Odin started trending on Twitter with the hashtag #Odinbirthday and received birthday wishes from sports teams, such as the Toronto Blue Jays, to politicians like Justin Trudeau to celebrities and even strangers.
The post also caught the attention of the Royal Canadian Navy since Odin, who is a sea cadet, has expressed interest in a career in the Navy.
On Friday, the Peterborough teen was taken through a series of ship activities and tasks on HMCS Montreal that moved him up the ranks from ordinary seaman to petty officer 1st class to honourary commander.
The teen gave the command to turn the engines on, helped steer the ship around Halifax harbour and even got to sit in the captain’s chair to take the helm of the Montreal.
“Being in the Navy is possibly the most exciting thing,” Odin said.
“It basically made my dreams come true for a little while. I’m grateful I was able to come on board.”
Of the six hours he spent on board, Odin said his favourite parts included steering the ship and becoming captain.
“Being captain takes a lot of responsibility, a lot of leadership. I hope I’ll get to be the captain of a ship one day and it’d be absolutely incredible if I could be the captain of this specific ship,” he said.
The aspiring sailor said he learned a lot about how to be a leader from his time aboard the Montreal.
“It’s not all about yelling orders at people. It’s about being a respectable and respectful leader to all of your sailors aboard the ship,” he said.
Lt.-Cmdr. Nancy Setchell said Odin has the qualities the Navy is looking for.
“He did amazingly well. He did super well. We gave him a lot of information,” she said.
“I’d love to see him in the Navy. Anyone that has that kind of passion for the Navy, especially at such a young age, would be an asset to the Navy and I would love to see him join.”
Mom Melissa Camus said it was amazing to see Odin become an honourary commander.
“I don’t even think I can properly articulate how much it means,” she said. “It’s really allowed Odin to experience his dream. It’s allowed Odin to step into his niche for a little while and become more confident in his ability to get here.”
Camus said she has seen her son grow in leaps and bounds since March.
“Odin has been put outside of his comfort zone, in that little box he was comfortable in, and as a mom, it’s been amazing to see him thrive outside of it.”
Camus admits she was often disappointed with how people responded to Odin but the outpouring of support after the birthday incident has renewed her faith in humanity.
“It seems there’s more of an awareness, especially in regards to Odin, and people’s kindness and the kindness of different organizations has absolutely astounded me.”
She laughed when asked how much Odin liked his time on the ship.
“He said he wants to be a stowaway,” she said with a smile. “They go to open sea next week and they won’t find him before then. It might be a little bit of a trek to get him on a plane to go home.”
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