A young cancer patient's aspiration to see his name in the Guinness Book of World Records has seen him receive some 2 million cards wishing him a happy eighth birthday.
Shane Bernier was receiving cards from the Chemo Angels because he was undergoing treatment for leukemia. He told his mother he wanted to receive more cards for his eighth birthday and she spread the word to friends and family.
However, word spread beyond their immediate circle and the numbers of cards they received far outweighed expectations.
"We were expecting maybe 2,000 and now we're pretty close to two million if not over," his mother, Nathalie Bernier, told CTV's Canada AM.
Shane Bernier, who turned 8 on Wednesday, has been receiving between 20,000 and 40,000 cards a day from 36 countries since they launched the birthday card drive in January.
Some of the cards are inside the Berniers' house, but most of them are being kept in a 53-foot tractor trailer outside their Lancaster, Ont. home.
Nathalie Bernier said that all the cards are being opened; however; they will not be able to keep them all. However, the cards will be saved to a computer disk before they are recycled.
While the Berniers were hoping the drive would land them in the Guinness Book of Records for the most number of cards received, the young boy's mother says this is no longer their goal.
"We thought it would be great if we could try the book, but it's been cancelled," Bernier said. "But our main thing was to make Shane happy and that totally made it."
Shane Bernier was diagnosed with leukemia shortly before his fifth birthday and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
According to his mother, Shane Bernier has an 80 per cent chance of living a long life once his treatments are completed.
