A Florida boy saw his eighth birthday go from disaster to elation after none of his friends ended up accepting invitations to his birthday party.
Instead, Daniel Nicastro of North Port, Fla., had some unexpected visitors: the North Port Police Department.
Daniel’s parents, Carolyn and Daniel NiCastro Sr., say their autistic son has difficulty making friends and socializing.
“No one called to say they were coming to his birthday party. Both myself and his father were heartbroken,” Carolyn Nicastro told WFLA News in Tampa Bay. “It’s hard when no one shows up.”
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Daniel’s parents say this isn’t the first time their son has celebrated a birthday without any friends attending.
“His father and I remembered the past two years of no one showing up for his birthday parties, he would spend the day crying that he had no friends,” Carolyn Nicastro said. “We could not let that happen again.”
So Daniel’s parents decided, on a lark, to invite the local police department. They say they had no idea what to expect, thinking it would be nice if an officer quickly stopped in. They didn’t even tell Daniel to spare him the disappointment.
Then on June 12 in North Port’s McKibben Park, where Daniel’s party was being held, something remarkable happened. Instead of one or two officers, over half a dozen officers took the time to show up to his birthday.
That’s a sentiment Daniel himself echoed when he spoke to WFLA News.
“The police is my favourite characters … They save people from getting damaged or like stopping robbers robbing a bank,” Daniel said.
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The post has gone viral since it was posted to the police Facebook page, with just under 1,500 shares.