Girl with autism wants discontinued T-Shirt and the internet responds

Picture of pink flower shirtDeborah Grimshaw Skouson/Facebook
By Rozina Sini
BBC's UGC and Social News Team

This is no ordinary T-Shirt. It belongs to 10 year old Cami Skouson who has autism. Her mum Deborah says the shirt brings her comfort, but the problem is she needed a new one and it has been discontinued.

So Deborah wrote a post on Facebook last week, appealing for friends and family to help her find the same pink flower top.

"We will pay for the the shirt and the shipping if someone would be kind enough to sell it to us," she wrote.

"It has to be this exact shirt! We've tried similar shirts and they just don't cut it with Cami."

Okay friends and family, I need your help! As most of you know, my daughter Cami has autism. For the past 4-5 years, she has been fixated on THIS shirt. She got her first one in kindergarten 5 years ago, and we have found 4 more since then, mostly on eBay. Her current one is almost unwearable, and eBay has gone dry. This shirt is a CIRCO brand from TARGET. They were sold in 2011-2012. This is where you come in. We need another "pink flower shirt", so will you please share this post or even just the photo? We will pay for the shirt and the shipping if someone would be kind enough to sell it to us. It has to be this exact shirt! We've tried similar shirts, and they don't cut it with Cami! :) Thank you so much!! (any size is great!)Deborah Grimshaw Skouson/Facebook

Viral post

Deborah's post was shared more than 5,000 times and within days Cami had not one but 161 flower T-Shirts.

One Facebook user, Jane Miranda, quickly responded: "We have one. Size 7/8. If they need one this size they can message me." Another, Jill Carpenter Skouson, said: "The one I found, I'll have by the end of the week. The lady says it's free for you. She has a son with sensory processing disorder, so she can relate to you."

Deborah from St George, Utah in the US was so overwhelmed by the response from strangers that she posted an update saying they had made her "sweet girl's life a little happier."

Picture of Cami wearing the T shirtDeborah Grimshaw Skouson
I'm Cami's mom, and my heart is so full of gratitude with the response this has received! I made the original post a week ago with the hopes of getting 4-5 shirts we could use for backup. By my count (and I'm sure I'm low), we have 73 shirts on their way, and 5 that have already arrived!! Cami adores this shirt, and it brings her a lot of comfort. She does not wear this shirt exclusively, but always puts it on after school, and wears it to bed. Thank you all for making my sweet girl's life a little happier!Frank Somerville KTVU/Facebook

Target, the store where Deborah first bought Cami's favourite T-Shirt has reached out to the family, and now Cami doesn't ever have to worry about her favourite top ever again.

A spokeswoman from the store told the BBC: "Target is able to recreate the shirt and will be sending multiple sizes to Deborah so that Cami can enjoy it for many years to come."