CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Some high-profile athletes are rallying around an 11-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs fan who had a disappointing birthday party.
Leafs forwards Mitch Marner and John Tavares are among those tweeting birthday wishes to Kade Foster in response to a call from the boy’s dad.
Jason Foster of Corner Brook, N.L., tweeted that none of Kade’s friends showed up to the Saturday night party, and tagged Marner and Tavares when asking for love.
A photo linked to the tweet shows Kade in a Maple Leafs T-shirt standing behind a Leafs birthday cake.
Marner wrote that Kade’s “friends from the Maple Leafs” would send him a surprise gift.
By Sunday evening, Foster’s post had been shared more than 10,000 times and garnered at least 25,000 responses, including messages from actor Ben Stiller and Green Leader Elizabeth May.
Foster tweeted his thanks several hours after the initial message went out, saying he couldn’t have imagined such a response.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2019.
The Canadian Press