Balloon appeal goes worldwide
SCHOOLBOY Brooklyn Hughes wanted to do something a little different as part of his seventh birthday celebrations.
So he set off a balloon from his home with a note on it, telling the finder to share it on social media.
And just days later, not only was the balloon found 100 miles away, but the resulting appeal by the finder went across the world – attracting attention from as far afield as Australia and the US.
His note read: “My name is Brooklyn Hughes. I’m seven. This is my birthday balloon. I want to see how far it will go. I live in Aberdare. Please share if found.”
Three days after the Minions balloon was released, it was found in Shropshire. The appeal from the Shrewsbury farmer to find Brooklyn took social media by storm, receiving more than 50,000 shares.
Brooklyn’s mum Jenna said: “He asked me if he could let the balloon go so we decided to write a note just to see if it would be found in a couple of weeks. We sent it up on May 28, three days after his seventh birthday, and he kept asking me ‘has it been found yet?.’
“The balloon was found in five days, almost 100 miles away.”
According to Jenna, Brooklyn – who is “very fun loving and quite shy” – couldn’t believe it when she told him.
She added: “He was over the moon and is very excited to tell all his friends in Llwydcoed Primary School.
“Me and my fiancé Craig were also shocked that it had been found, and especially as it travelled so far considering the weather we have had.”
Luke Johnson, 29, found the balloon on his farm in Shrewsbury on Friday, and said: “It’s happened a few times before, but I usually just pick them up and chuck them in the bin. But this one was different – with the card and the writing on it.
“To be honest at first I wasn’t going to post it but then I felt a bit bad so I decided to share it with my friends on Facebook.”
He said within about two hours, the post, which read: “Please everyone share! So we can let this 7 year old child from Aberdare know there birthday ballon was found yesterday 2/06/17 in a field we farm at Withington Shrewsbury!”, saw about 1,000 shares, and Brooklyn was located.
Days after Brooklyn had been made aware, it was still generating shares, and on Monday the number stood at more than 50,000.
Luke said: “It shows the power of the internet and that you can locate things very easily. It’s quite amazing it got all the way here. It’s a very long way to travel.”
The social media traction has meant Luke has received messages from across the world.
“I’ve had people from around the world contacting me on social media – as far away as Australia and California telling me it had gone viral over there. I really never thought it would come to that,” he said.
“Last night I had to get a friend to go on my security settings and make it so people could not send me friend requests any more. It took me about two hours to delete them all!”