HUDSON, MASS. (WHDH) - The newly 19-year-old Mathew Frias of Hudson remembers the birthday of everyone he meets and delights in celebrating with them. On his own birthday, a grateful community gathered to celebrate the man they call the “mayor.”
Sirens blaring, dozens of firefighters, police officers, family members, classmates, friends and even strangers rode up to the Frijas home on Friday to wish Mathew a happy birthday.
“Mathew is an amazing young man,” Hudson Police Capt. Rick Dipersio said. “As you can see his smile is infectious and lights up a room.”
The Hudson High School senior has Autism Spectrum Disorder and is known for spreading happiness around the community by meeting new people.
“That is his favorite thing to do. To make birthday cards and deliver birthday cards to everyone,” Frias’ mother Georgeana said. “I ask him, ‘Mathew, why do you like to do that?’ and he tells me, ‘It’s because I love to make people happy.”
Frias said he had never seen anything like the display on his front lawn today.
He said he thought the surprise was, “fabulous.” Then started listing off the birthdays of all those present.
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