Strangers send Holly 550 cards for 18th birthday
THE only person Holly Benbow isn’t popular with at the moment is her postman.
For the 18-year-old received 550 cards ahead of her birthday on Monday after her sister posted an appeal online.
Amy Lloyd, 25, turned to Facebook after Holly, who is autistic and severely epileptic, suffering up to 20 fits a day, told her family that all she wanted for her birthday was lots of cards and a trip to Castle Bingo in Bridgend.
Her Facebook post went viral and the family home in Nantymoel, near Bridgend, ended up awash with envelopes.
“I just want to say a massive thank-you from all of us to everyone who has supported Holly and sent her a birthday card,” said Amy.
“This has made her birthday more special than we could have ever imagined.
“We didn’t expect this and we are so over- whelmed with the amount of cards we have received.”
Holly, who likes watching the Tweenies, Mr Tumble, Teletubbies and Peppa Pig and doing puzzles, has a place at Heronsbridge School in Bridgend, but mum Claire Benbow, 44, said because her epilepsy is not under control she is rarely able to attend and has been unable to form friendships as a result.
“Basically she hasn’t got many friends in school, so we can’t do a party for her,” said Claire.
“The only thing other than that is to spend the day opening birthday cards. She likes to see her name and she likes us to read out who the cards are from.”
Holly, who also has global developmental delay, is cared for full-time by Claire and Adrian, 46.
Claire said: “She was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital and also had a vagus nerve stimulator [a device that sends electrical pulses to the brain] implanted to try to control the fits but it hasn’t made any difference whatsoever.
“On a good day we can have about five to six fits and on a bad day we can have anything from 15 to 20.
“People say to me ‘How do you manage?’ but we don’t know any different.
“We are always by her side. We put her in the recovery position and because she goes blue we have to give her oxygen.
“If she fits for longer than five minutes we have to give her emergency medication and then if it goes on we have to phone for assistance.
“She also has to use a wheelchair when she goes out because if she walks far she gets very, very tired and that brings on fits.
“But other than that she gets on with her day and is just fantastic.”