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40 Truckers Rally To Fulfill Lonely 8-Year-Old's Birthday Wish

July 6, 2023

A simple birthday wish made by an 8-year-old boy in Hamilton, New Zealand, has garnered an incredible response from the trucking community.

Credit: Hart Haulage Ltd

Katherine Johnson's son, Oliver, is obsessed with big trucks.

"Ollie knows every single name of every single truck and every single truck company. He gets the trucking magazine every month," Katherine said. "All he wants to do is be a truck driver. He is just obsessed."

She posted on Facebook offering $50 to anyone willing to take him for a ride in their truck for his 8th birthday.

She also mentioned that Oliver did not have any friends to invite to his birthday party.

Credit: Facebook

Since the social media call, dozens of truckers from across the region have pledged their support and will be converging on the young boy's birthday party to fulfill his dream of going for a truck ride.

Hart Haulage owner Barry Hart saw the social media post and organized a truck convoy just for Oliver.

"I hoping to help organise a convoy for a young fella who turns 8 on Sunday 9th July," Hart wrote on his trucking company's Facebook page. "Chatting with his family he loves trucks but feels like he's alone in the world. So we wanted to join with an already strong number of our friends in the industry to see if we can make Ollie's birthday, one to remember."

Hart said 40 truck drivers had since signed on to join the convoy.

"Every one these truckies that are doing this, and there are probably 10 trucks at least that are coming from Auckland, those guys, it will cost them $500-600 to get that truck down there, do their thing and go away, and not one of them is asking for anything," he said.

According to Hart's latest post, the details of the convoy are still being finalized.

"I just saw that there was a kid who didn't feel like he had friends and didn't feel like he had a community around him," Hart said.

"I wanted to make sure that, and I would like to hope that every kid knows, that there is a community and people out there that will back them and stand beside them."