IT ALL STARTED yesterday, when dad Marc Carter in Devon, UK took to Twitter with a unique request.

His son Ben has severe non-verbal autism. Ever since he was two, Ben has exclusively drank out of a little blue Tommee Tippee sippy cup – and he won’t drink from anything else.

The cups are no longer made, and little Ben’s cup has started to fall apart and doesn’t have long left.

So his dad put out a call on social media for people with the exact same cups

Sligo Volunteer Centre Facebook Sligo Volunteer Centre Facebook

Yesterday, The Sligo Volunteer Centre posted the plea on their Facebook page – and the result has been amazing.

People around Ireland began sending photos to the page to see if their particular sippy cup matches the one needed

Sligo Volunteer Centre Sligo Volunteer Centre

The post went viral on the Sligo Volunteer Centre page, with over 4000 shares and hundreds of people getting in contact – the centre then liaised with the family to see if any matched

Sligo Volunteer Centre Sligo Volunteer Centre

As the centre tells DailyEdge.ie, it’s already been a success – despite only being up for 24 hours:

We have found at least one cup from a local lady, we are in the process of getting addresses swapped and getting it sent off!

And they had nothing but praise for all the Irish people that got in touch:

Just goes to show the power of social media and the generosity of its users.

Hopefully now the family will be sorted for sippy cups for years to come

The #CupForBen hashtag has exploded on social media in the meantime – and people across the world are getting in touch as the story spreads.

The manufacturers are getting involved too

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And Ben’s dad has posted a moving thank you note to Twitter as a result of all the attention:

Thank you to everyone for trying so hard to help my little man – it has genuinely moved me to tears, it’s incredible that you all want to help.

I’ve got some coming, some as in enough to last us a few years, so if that’s all I get then that’s great. No, it’s amazing. Thank you.

The reality is Ben is unlikely to change, so I will need these for the rest of his life. That’s a lot of cups. It’s got to be easier to collect them now than try in 10 years, less will be around then.

Hopefully Ben will have all the blue sippy cups he’ll ever need.

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