Philip Walsh has had one hell of a birthday this year, with a little thanks to his new pal, former Ireland captain Robbie Keane who made sure he wasn't forgotten on his big day.
Putting a call out for
'as many birthday cards as possible' Robbie Keane asked the public to show Philip Walsh some love ahead of his birthday.
Celebrating his 27th birthday on Saturday, Philip has been having a tough time as of late as his dad died suddenly six weeks ago and his mam is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Originally hoping to get around 100 birthday cards this year, Robbie helped things along by encouraging people to send in a special message for the Dubliner. And that they most certainly have, with Philip's family confirming that he's received almost 4,000 birthday cards at last count.
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Robbie himself called out to Philip's house on Friday afternoon, hand-delivering an Ireland jersey to the young fan as did the Gardaí who paid him a visit yesterday - greeting him with "plenty of lights and sirens from the Emergency Services". Even Nicky Byrne of Westlife responded to the call, stopping off with a big bag of Westlife goodies to help him celebrate.
Speaking to the
Irish Sun, Philip's uncle Fintan said that there was a great sense of community spirit about the place and the family couldn't thank the public enough for their kindness.
"We've had messages from around the world and the whole experience has been amazing because we've had a pretty tough time lately with Philip's dad passing away. We were hoping to get 100 letters - but we ended up with thousands."
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