LIFE MATTERS MEDIA STAFF

All a terminally ill Mesa, Ariz., teen wants for his birthday is cards – lots of them.

The family of Jacob Priestley has made a public plea for people across the world to send him as many cards as possible. Their goal: 10,000 by his late-August birthday. A Facebook page associated with the family reports they have already received more than 3,000.

Priestley, 13, was diagnosed with autism and attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder when he was 4. He was later diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, a rare, life-threatening illness that has weakened his body.

“Since his disease is terminal, we don’t know how many more birthdays he’s going to have with us,” Jacob’s mother, Britney Priestley, told a local news station. “We vowed that we would make every birthday bigger and better than last year.”

Birthday cards may be sent to the P.O. Box below:

Jacob Priestley

P.O. Box 855

Queen Creek, AZ 85142

– Image via Facebook