A WIRRAL mum has been “blown away” after receiving more than 10,000 cards to make her terminally ill son’s sixth birthday one to remember.

Wirral Globe:
Some of the cards that have already arrived for William.

When Kelly Magee, from Prenton, appealed for people to send son William a birthday card, she never imagined the response she would get.

Expecting around 20 cards to arrive for William – who turns six on August 19 – Kelly told the Globe she couldn’t be more thankful after thousands of people from every continent sent a card, with more arriving each day.

“I just can’t believe it. I’m still in a state of shock. The support we have got is phenomenal,” said Kelly.

“It’s completely blown me away from one small post on the Facebook page and as I have said all along, I never ever expected to get more than 20 at most - it doesn’t seem real.

“We’ve had cards from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, France, America – any country you can think of, we’ve had cards from there.

“There are all these different places and when you look at them, I’m just speechless. I think it’s going to be a long time before the scale of what’s happened sinks in.

“We’ve even had one from Antarctica but that won’t arrive until October because of the way their mailing system works.”

Wirral Globe: William with mum Kelly.

William suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a muscle wasting condition which affects around 2,500 people in the UK.

Kelly set up the ‘Savewilliam’ Facebook page to raise awareness of his condition and funds to research for treatment.

But New Brighton’s Bubbles World of Play soon picked up on her campaign and with her support, around 500 cards a day have arrived in the post for William.

They are also holding a private birthday party for William on Friday.

Kelly’s appeal has also been picked up by national newspapers, with radio stations including Heart and Wirral Radio also promoting the campaign on a daily basis.

Personalised cards website Moonpig has also got involved, offering to send a free card to William for anyone who buys a card for themselves. People need to simply enter the FORWILLIAM promotional code at the checkout.

“It’s going to be a shock for William but I don’t think he’s actually going to realise the scale of what it is – it’s going to take him months to open them but I intend to make sure that I sit down and read every single one to him.

“We intend to put as much effort into reading them as everybody has into writing and sending them because without people sending them, we wouldn’t have this.”

Duchenne is one of the biggest genetic killers of children.

Sufferers lose the ability to walk between the ages of eight and 12 before quickly losing the use of their upper body muscles, making simple everyday tasks impossible.

In some cases, the heart and diaphragm muscles can fail too in children as young as 10.

Kelly said: “William hasn’t got a clue how many cards he’s getting. He saw one card arrive a couple of weeks and he was very exciting about the fact a card had come already.

“There are a lot of cards that have come in from Moonpig. It’s a big company and it’s advertised on the television and there’s my little boy’s name as a promotion code.

“I’m still getting cards to the house as well and it’s every day.”

William’s birthday party will be taking place at Bubbles’ World of Play on Friday, when he will be presented with what is sure to be a giant bag of cards.

Kelly added: “I don’t know how William is going to react, I just can’t wait.

“It’s been a whirlwind. It’s just gone so much further than I could have even ever dreamed or imagined and I couldn’t be more thankful.

“I really would love nothing than to be able to thank everybody individually and personally but it would take me years.

“It’s also raised huge awareness for Duchenne and our Facebook page is getting messages every day and I’m making sure I reply personally to everyone.

“It just shows that with all the negative things that goes on in this world, we actually live among really good people in a really good world. We have lovely people everywhere.

  • Anyone who wants to send a card to William should send it to: William Magee, Bubbles World of Play, Marine Point, Kings Parade, New Brighton, CH45 2PB. Alternatively, you can drop the cards off at the soft play centre or at the Globe’s offices in Hinson Street, Birkenhead.

• Visit SaveWilliam on Facebook for more information.