"For the Lonely Child's Smile"... 64 Trucks Gathered for 7-Year-Old Boy's Birthday

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64 trucks gathered to fulfill the wish of a 7-year-old child.

According to the New Zealand Herald on the 9th (local time), Catherine, the mother of Oliver Johnson (7) who lives in the Hamilton area, recently posted on her Facebook, "I will give 50 New Zealand dollars (about 40,000 won) to anyone who takes my son on a truck ride on his birthday." In the post, Catherine said, "Oliver is a child who feels very lonely, but I expect he will find laughter if he rides a truck."

7-year-old boy Oliver riding in a truck on his birthday
Photo by Yonhap News

She described Oliver as "knowing all the trucks and truck company names and reading truck-related magazines every month," adding, "Oliver only wants to become a truck driver. He is completely obsessed with trucks."

What Catherine wanted was just one truck, but when the post was seen by the owner of a trucking company, the modest plan turned into a huge event. Barry Hart, the owner of the trucking company 'Hart Hollidge,' planned a special truck escort just for Oliver. He posted a call on social media urging truck drivers to participate.

Mr. Hart said, "I came across the story of a child (Oliver) who feels he has no friends or community, so I wanted every child to realize that there are communities and people around who support them and stand with them."

On the morning of Oliver's birthday, the 9th, the number of trucks that appeared for the birthday event was an astonishing 64. Initially, Mr. Hart expected about 15 to 20 truck drivers to participate, but as word spread, the event grew larger. 34 drivers had expressed their intention to participate in advance, but on the day of the event, the number of participants nearly doubled, and some even traveled 120 km for the event.

A procession of trucks participating in Oliver's birthday event
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The drivers who drove trucks from Auckland to Hamilton incurred expenses of 500 to 600 New Zealand dollars (about 400,000 to 480,000 won), but the truck drivers did not expect any compensation.

Oliver's father, Simon, said he was "surprised" by the number of trucks that appeared and added, "My son never expected a truck escort to come to celebrate his birthday until the trucks showed up." Simon continued, "Oliver was shining like bright sunshine to anyone who saw him. Today is the day his dream came true, and he must be extremely happy."

He also said, "Honestly, today was beyond what we imagined. It's amazing how a small post on Facebook created this event. Many comments came from overseas as well. We will be forever grateful for today’s event, and no words can fully express our thanks to everyone."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.