Man Uses Twitter To Locate Obscure VHS Tape For Autistic Son
Are you ready for a feel-good story? Get ready to grab the tissues. Recently, James Dutton took to Twitter for a special request. The dad tweeted out, “Does anyone have…
WESTPORT, CT – FEBRUARY 08: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) In this photo illustration, a VHS tape which could once be purchased at RadioShack is shown on February 8, 2015 in Westport, Connecticut. RadioShack, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Thursday, represented an older era of home electronics and consumer items. Despite numerous attempts to keep with the times, the home electronics retailer couldn’t compete in an era of Amazon and Apple. RadioShack was started in 1921 to supply equipment for amateur or ham radio enthusiasts. At its height, the company grew to have thousands of stores throughout America parts of Europe and South America. (Photo Illustration by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Spencer Platt / StaffAre you ready for a feel-good story? Get ready to grab the tissues. Recently, James Dutton took to Twitter for a special request.
The dad tweeted out, “Does anyone have or know of anyone who may still have this VHS? My severely autistic son Thomas has written it on his Xmas list…please let me know!”
Attached to the social media post was a photo of Postman Pat’s Prize Postbag. The character is from a British stop-motion series, which follows a postman on his deliveries.
Within moments, the Ruislip, London local has thousands of retweets. Especially when his brother who, according to HuffPost, has over 10K followers decided to spread the message. His message to find this particular VHS spread like wildfire. People throughout Europe were attempting to locate a copy of the episode.
According to HuffPost UK, James said, “I didn’t imagine when I posted my original tweet yesterday that it would gain quite so much momentum. My son Thomas loved watching ‘Postman Pat’ as well as many of the other children’s characters when he was smaller.”
The father continued, “Now he is always watching them on YouTube but loves having the old VHS boxes as well. He’s been obsessed since he was 18 months old.”
If you look through the Twitter responses, people offered to check attics, Grandma’s house, and even contact Cbeebies – the network of the television series.
James received a lot of responses, but it was one Twitter user named Jill who came to the rescue. She replied, “I have a copy!! Replied on your other tweet but not sure if it’ll get lost amongst so many replies. Our box of old videos was in the hall on the way to the charity shop after a clear out of the lost at the weekend! Dm me your address & I can post it to you.”
Thanks to Jill and the power of the internet, Thomas is going to have an amazing Christmas!
Sarah is a Hufflepuff living in NYC. When she is not traveling or talking to random animals, she is working as a script writer. Tweet her at @lumpyspacederp
