The moving birthday plea for a seriously ill man in hospital with Covid-19 alongside his dad

The family of a young man seriously ill in hospital with coronavirus have received a moving surprise to help celebrate his birthday.

John John Langshaw, 26, is in the Royal Glamorgan Hospital after testing positive for the virus two weeks ago. His dad John is currently in intensive care in the same hospital after also contracting Covid-19.

Described as a “cheeky” character with a love for Disney, John John, from Talbot Green, has complex health issues and had been recovering from sepsis when he contracted the illness.

Now friends and family have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of strangers after asking for people to send in cards for the youngster to mark his birthday.

So far he has received more than 300 cards ready to welcome him home, with the number expected to double after his birthday on Thursday.

Kate Wright, John John’s carer, said: “John John is okay, he’s not great. He had been in and out of hospital for a couple of months with sepsis and then unfortunately he caught covid.

“His dad is in ICU and on a ventilator and his mum has also got covid but luckily she’s okay. I mean she’s not okay but she’s being strong for them.

“It’s a really sad situation so I just wanted to try and do something for them as a family. I thought if I put a little post up hopefully they would get a couple of cards.

“His mum said she has had nearly 100 cards on one day and you can see the post has got viral. She got contacted by police just to ask if she was happy with the fact she will get this many cards and by Royal Mail because it’s been quite a large volume.

“It’s just blown up, it’s great.”

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Kate, who runs day TouchBase day centre in Caerphilly as part of the Sense charity for those with complex needs, described John John as a “fighter.”

She said: “He’s a cheeky little chap, he is a real comic. He can make anybody feel better, whenever you’re having a bad day, spend an hour with him and you feel better. He has a very wicked sense of humour, he loves everything naughty.

“He is a fighter, he has gone through many many challenges in his life and he always fights, he always comes out the other end.”

In an appeal shared thousands of times, Kate encouraged people to send in cards celebrating John John and his love for birthdays, balloons and fireworks, and thanked people for the scale of their response.

She said: “He can’t have anything in the hospital so I’m asking if people would be willing to send him a birthday card so when he comes out he has a room full of cards to welcome him. Homemade is perfect if you have nothing in the house, he loves Disney, chocolate, balloons, bright sparkly colours, anything silly. Thank you, please share far and wide so we can make his birthday as special as possible in a really horrible time.”

If you would like to send a birthday card to John John you can address it to 4 Stuart Terrace, Talbot Green, CF72 8AA.