Newark mum rallies to gather virtual birthday messages for her son's lockdown birthday

A mother whose son will be having a lockdown birthday has banned him from Facebook while she rallies to gather messages for his special day.

Julie Mumby, of Newark, said with the pandemic, it was important for son Callum to know his 16th birthday would be celebrated.

She said for the first time he would be centre of attention.

"Callum is an amazing and remarkable young man and has always taken a back seat," Julie said. "I know it sounds bias but, to me, that is who he is.

"His younger brother Sam has ASD and, because of his autism, has developed a nutrition disorder because he will only eat cheese and onion crisps. He is fed though a tube now."

Callum's grandad, who he was very close to, died in 2015, but instead of letting it affect him, Julie said he took it on the chin and is still predicted excellent grades at school.

But in May 2019, Julie woke up not being able to feel the lower part of her body, and was later diagnosed with fibromyalgia. She also has suspected functional neurological disorder (FND) which is under investigation.

Julie had to leave her much-loved job at Waitrose and now has limited mobility, chronic fatigue and tremors.

She said: "Now when my husband goes to work, Callum gets up and helps Sam get ready. He also helps me get about around the house, so I need someone around all of the time.

"Because we had to go into lockdown early, with my husband having a temperature, Callum didn't get to say bye to his friends and year 11 ended so abruptly for him.

"Our holiday has been cancelled too.

"So, I really wanted to do something special for him and have asked people to share my Facebook post far and wide ­— in the hope many people will say happy birthday."

If you wish to send Callum a birthday message, please send it to the Facebook group before Tuesday, May 26, here.

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