BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (LEX 18) – A little boy from Bowling Green is warming hearts around the world through a video his parents recorded of his birthday celebration.
The video posted to Facebook shows Rhett Flener sitting in front of a birthday cake with a number 3 candle on top. His eyes light up and he bursts into giggles when his family starts singing happy birthday.
Rhett’s Mom Lee Ann Weatherholt Flener told WBKO-TV she put the clip up on her social media page just for friends and family, but more and more people kept encouraging her to make the video public so it could be shared.
She says they never expected the 1.2 million shares and 960,000 likes that would follow.
“We’ve gotten messages on social media from people in Ireland, Paraguay, Mexico,” Lee Ann told WBKO.
The TV station reports that Rhett is the middle child of three boys, and the only one born with Down Syndrome.
While his parents say he did need a couple of bowel surgeries early on, Rhett’s now a pretty typical toddler. They say he has no shortage of personality.
“He’s definitely making his community a better place just when we go out somewhere people love interacting with Rhett. It just brings a lot of joy,” said Rhett’s father, Garet.
My heart just can’t handle it!!!!!!! He gets so tickled!
Posted by Lee Ann Weatherholt Flener on Tuesday, January 1, 2019
