Dying boy whose dream was to sit in a Ferrari stunned when NINE strangers brought their supercars to him on his birthday after Facebook appeal
The terminally-ill schoolboy had nine of the supercars turn up to his 11th birthday party as a surprise
A TERMINALLY-ILL schoolboy whose dying wish was to sit in a Ferrari was stunned - when NINE strangers brought their supercars to his birthday party following a Facebook appeal.
Relatives of Toby Penrose launched a social media campaign to find a Ferrari owner who would be willing to pop along to his 11th birthday bash as a surprise.
One would have been enough to make Toby's day, but they were thrilled to hear back from nine strangers who drove down on Sunday and lined up their distinctive Italian-made sports cars outside the Esplanade Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall.
Toby - who suffers from the rare degenerative brain disease Adrenoleukodystrophy - then made his way along a red carpet in his wheelchair to inspect the vehicles.
Not only did he get to sit in one of the supercars he also got to rev the accelerators as fellow Ferrari drivers sounded their horns, fulfilling his wish of having a Ferrari for his birthday.
His mother, Emily, 47, said: "He just sat in the red one with the biggest smile on his face I've ever seen.
"The support from all of these people - who most of them we've never met - is absolutely amazing."
Toby was an active, karate-loving football fan until his diagnosis last year. The symptoms of his disease include loss of vision, seizures, deafness, reduced mobility and progressive dementia.
Emily added: "One of the things he said he wanted last week was, 'for my birthday I would like to have a Ferrari.'
"All young boys would like to have a Ferrari for their birthday, I'm sure, but obviously we weren't going to get him a Ferrari.
"I told him, 'you're not old enough.'
"So he then said he'd like to sit in a Ferrari, so I said fantastic, wonderful.
"We posted a message on Facebook and through the wonderful power of social media we've ended up with nine cars so far."
Mum-of-two Emily, who cares for Toby full-time at their home in Truro, Cornwall, had got in touch with a friend who decided to create an event on Facebook.
Lots of people shared the event and joined the page, leading to several people around the country - who Emily didn't know - showing up to the day with their flash cars.
Adrenoleukodystrophy - or ALD - affects one in 18,000 people. Toby was diagnosed with the disease out of the blue last March.
Emily added: "Toby was diagnosed with a terminal brain disease in March last year and we've been trying to make lots of memories for him and us as a family.
"This event really made his birthday. It means a lot to him and a lot to us."
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