More than 30,000 birthday cards have been sent to a man in France after his mother posted a request on Facebook which went viral.

Manuel Parisseaux, who turned 30 on Saturday, has got Down's syndrome.

"We got cards from everywhere: Sri Lanka, Chicago, Hong Kong and sometimes with child's drawings," said his mother Jacqueline Parisseaux.

"I don't understand why it got so big. Manuel is like us, he is moved to tears."

The number of cards and gifts he has received has got so great that he has had to store them in a neighbour's garage in his hometown of Calais, France.

They had to be delivered by truck as the mail carrier couldn't deliver all the cards.

Ms Parrisseaux, 61, and her husband posted a message on Facebook on 3 November, asking for people to help celebrate Manuel's birthday.

"My son Manuel is going to turn 30 years old on November 22. He has Down's syndrome," she wrote on her husband's social media profile.

"I'm writing to ask you to take a couple minutes to send him a little card and to pass this information on to your friends so the chain doesn't get broken.

"I thank you all for your gesture, which will make my Manu so happy."

She said the request "snowballed" as soon as she posted it.

"We had a few hassles with Facebook because our post was shared 120,000 times and they thought we were a business or that we were running a scam."

The family are currently sorting through all the cards and gifts, including boxes of chocolate, key chains and cakes.

They have said they will keep every card but cannot "respond to all of them".

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