Mum's social media plea delivers spectacular 10th birthday surprise

When Sarah Tattam was planning her son's 10th birthday, she was nervous about how it would go.

"We were on the drive to school and talking about a birthday party," she said.

"[Nate] was sitting there in the back seat and said no-one would come."

Nate Tattam lives with his mother, sisters Angelina and Jordan, and their grandmother in Cootamundra in southern New South Wales.

He also lives with ADHD, autism, some intellectual disabilities and a speech and language delay, which have made it difficult for him to make friends.

"He might play a certain game of cricket with kids at school [and] he sees it as, 'Because I play with them, they're my friends,'" Ms Tattam said.

"But in an actual social setting, you take school away and that's not how it works in the real world."

Ms Tattam posted to a Facebook page to ask the community to help make her boy's birthday special.

"He loves anything that's got a motor and wheels. He's been obsessed since he was little," she said.

"I just put up a post just asking if anybody's got a truck, a motorbike, if people could just drive past, spare a minute and beep their horn, wish him a happy birthday."

Soon, Ms Tattam was fielding phone calls from community organisations, including the captain of the local fire brigade.

"We ended up with three fire trucks, two ambulances and a police car here on Saturday afternoon for him," she said.

"They came around the corner with lights and sirens for him, he got to play in the trucks and with the hoses and go in the back of the [police] wagon, which is pretty good because he wasn't doing anything bad."

Nate said he was happy so many people turned up for his birthday.

Ms Tattam said she was touched by the community support.

"It made me cry,"

she said.

The following day, his actual birthday, Nate got a visit from Matthew Thacker and his sprint car.

Members of the Black Dog Ride from nearby Young made the 40-minute journey, along with the Wandering Wedgetails, to bring some motorbikes to the party.

A restoration club brought some classic cars along as well.

"He was actually able to open doors and sit in cars and go for a ride. It was lovely," Ms Tattam said.

More celebrations to come

About 50 people turned up across the two days, including residents who dropped in presents and children who wanted to play with the birthday boy.

But the party is not over yet.

"I'm going on a plane," Nate said, looking forward to an aerial tour of the area that was donated as a present.

Ms Tattam said the whole experience had been empowering.

"If this is what the community can do for a little 10-year-old boy, imagine what they're capable of," she said.

Cootamundra Gundagai Mayor Abb McAlister said the family had recently arrived in the town.

"I know they haven't been in town long, but in these smaller towns, you don't have to be," he said.

"You're welcome pretty well straight away in Cootamundra and Gundagai.

"That's just the way the community has always been."

Ms Tattam said in addition to having the best 10th birthday ever, Nate had another thing to get excited about.

"He's looking forward to a play date next week," she said.