10-Year-Old Girl With Rare Genetic Disorder Surprised by Hundreds of People for her Birthday, Including an NFL Star
The mother of 10-year-old Mackenzie Moretter, Jenny Moretter, sent out invitations to 10 girls to attend a birthday party for her daughter in their hometown of Shakopee, Minnesota. But when none of those invitations came back with an RSVP, she felt compelled to do something.
As reported on BuzzFeed News, when Mackenzie was born, she had a rare genetic disorder known as Sotos syndrome, which caused her to have developmental delays and ultimately, made it nearly impossible for her to socialize with her classmates.
"She's never really had any friends," said Matt Moretter, Mackenzie's father. "No one has ever really come over to play. She's just kind of played with her brother and sister's friends."
So just like any good mother, Jenny did whatever it took to make her daughter happy on her birthday. Her idea: Post a note on Facebook and see if her friends would bring their children to Mackenzie's party.
"She is incredibly loving and wants more than anything to have friends," Jenny wrote in the post. "As a mother, it is heartbreaking."
This quickly turned into a feel-good story because the post went viral and the response was overwhelming. They were contacted by local media, and in no time at all she had hundreds of people waiting in line to attend Mackenzie's party.
According to People, one of those in attendance was Minnesota Vikings football player Charles Johnson. Mackenzie's birthday became a smash hit for a young girl, who even had Disney's "Elsa" character in attendance, along with a "Frozen" themed birthday cake and a huge stack of presents.
According to USA Today, Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke also attended the party and gave an official proclamation -- that April 18 be Mackenzie Moretter Day in the city.
"On Saturday, you changed the life of a little girl that many of you have never met," Moretter wrote on the official Facebook page for the party. "And, you've given this mother purpose to spread a message of acceptance, tolerance and love."
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