An 101-Year-Old Man Whose Birthday Party Was Cancelled, Asks For 101K Likes Instead

A man who has had to cancel his 101st birthday party in light of coronavirus has called on the Twitter community to help him celebrate another way.

Owen, who was due to celebrate the milestone birthday on 31st March, has asked for 101,000 likes and comments on his photo instead.

The plea was posted on the social platform by Mohamad Safa, a UN worker from the US, who urged people to leave Owen a special birthday message.

Alongside it, he posted a photo of Owen holding a white board with a message that read: "Hello, I am Owen. I am turning 101 on March 31st.

"My party was canceled because of social distancing. Help me celebrate by getting 101k likes/comments."

Mohamad, who has over 79,000 followers, explained: "His 101st birthday party was canceled because of the impact of the Coronavirus.

"Please share and comment to help us make his upcoming birthday special. Please leave him a message here. Take 60 seconds and do it for Owen!"

Well Owen needn't have worried about getting the likes. The plea was posted on Friday 20th March and by the time the weekend was up, he'd already secured way over his target of 101,000 likes along with thousands of comments from well-wishers.

"You're looking amazing Owen - I'm really sorry about your Birthday party," wrote one person

"Happy birthday! Have a lovely day! Sorry THE BUG ruined your celebrations," said another.

"Happy birthday Owen your birthday is always special and you'll still have a brilliant day," commented a third.

Owen joins thousands who have had to change their celebrations due to Covid-19, including one man who was due to propose to his girlfriend in Iceland before their holiday as cancelled.

Robert Ormsby, 58, was adamant that coronavirus wouldn't stop his engagement, and hatched up a plan to ask his girlfriend in the next best way.

He decided to pop the question to partner Patsy Murdoch, 58, in the local Iceland supermarket, instead. In between the aisles of frozen food in Tonbridge, Kent, Robert got down on one knee and asked Patsy to be his wife.

A photo of the couple - who posed at the checkout in front of a stack of shopping baskets - has since gone viral online and Iceland has even announced a special treat for the pair.

We're loving people's inventive ways to smile through the crisis!

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash

Topics: Life News, Life, Real Life

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara is a freelance writer working for Tyla. After graduating with an English Lit and Media degree from the University of Sussex, Ciara held jobs at GLAMOUR and Yahoo Style before packing up for a solo travelling trip around South America.

@ciarasheppard