IRMO, S.C. — Hundreds gathered for the birthday of an eight-year-old Irmo girl on Saturday after a plea by her mother on social media.
The post was written by Julie Shehata and said her daughter, Maelynn Hurley, was born with a heart tumor and missed a lot of school while she took care of her health, so making friends hadn't been easy.
Shehata had already invited 25 people to the party, but no one was available to come. Making the social post was "a bit of an act of desperation," she said.
"By Wednesday afternoon, I noticed that my daughter hadn't had anyone respond about coming to her party, so I posted in a neighborhood Facebook group," she said. "After that we got about a thousand responses to my desperate plea."
It was "a dream come true" when she and her daughter arrived to Irmo Park to find hundreds of guests from Irmo and beyond including police, fire officials, city leaders and more.
"It is the best day of my life," Hurley said.
Shehata says she's extremely grateful to her community and now her only worry is how she'll top the party next year.