First responders surprise Avon boy with 9th birthday parade

AVON, Ind. (WISH) — An Avon boy says a birthday surprise from first responders has him over the moon.

Because of current restrictions to gatherings to slow the spread of coronavirus, it looked like Jaxson Reeves wasn’t going to have much of a celebration. But a couple of calls to Avon police and he had a parade come straight to his doorstep.

Red and blue lights captivated Jaxson Reeves as he stood at the edge of his driveway. This was the opposite of how he thought his birthday would be.

“So, he was a little bummed because we couldn’t have a birthday party for him, obviously,” his mom, Brandin Kurbursky, said.

His family made one call to the police station and got a much bigger celebration than they could have hoped for.

“We only invited one!” Jaxson said.

“We only invited one and we got a bunch that came, didn’t we?” Kurbursky said.

As if having a mini parade in his honor wasn’t great enough, it even came with birthday gifts.

“Happy birthday, buddy!” A police officer said. “Got a few masks in there for you and your family, too. Just like these.”

“You got some silly string?” Kurbursky said.

“Yeah!” Jaxson said. “Some silly string, but I used it all up!”

“Yup, you used it all up already,” Kurbursky said.

“Pshhh!” Jaxson mimicked the sound of the silly string being released.

Jaxson thinks heroes — fictional and real — are pretty cool.

“That they save people,” Jaxson said.

But alongside the heroes, he got to see some familiar faces: friends and family shouting happy birthday and waving signs.

“Happy birthday!” Jaxson said.

“Happy birthday, we love you, we miss you,” Kurbursky said.

“Mamaw and papaw said, ‘You can come to our house any time!’” Jaxson said.

Jaxson’s mom says he called Friday the best birthday ever. She said he wants to give a big thanks to everyone who helped make it all happen. Now, who knows how birthday No. 10 could turn out?

“Oof,” Kurbursky said. “That’s a long ways away, isn’t it?”

“I never thought of my 10th birthday!” Jaxson said.

“You never thought of your 10th birthday?” Kurbursky said. “Well, I don’t know if it’s going to be able to beat this one!”

At least for birthday No. 10, the hope is it won’t be in the middle of a quarantine.