Man’s plea for letters in viral TikTok gets worldwide, 'overwhelming' response

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A man’s request for a few, friendly letters has turned into carloads of mail. 

Shelly Davis, from Coralville, Iowa, posted a video on TikTok last month showing her son Miles walking to the mailbox. 

In the video, Davis explains that 30-year-old Miles has Down syndrome and checks the mail every day. 

"He just wants to get a letter instead of a bill," Davis says, in part, in the TikTok video. 

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The clip shows Miles checking the mailbox, but with no letters inside. 

"Well maybe tomorrow," Davis tells her son in the clip. "We’ll check again tomorrow."

In the clip, Davis also writes that "he wants money for his puppy." Davis explained to FOX News that Miles’ support dog needs surgery, so she was also hoping to raise money for the surgery as well. 

Though there haven’t been many donations on a GoFundMe that was set up to pay for the dog’s surgery, Miles and his family have been inundated with letters and packages. 

Shelly Davis, from Coralville, Iowa, posted a video on TikTok last month showing her son Miles walking to the mailbox. (Courtesy of Shelly Davis)

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Shelly’s original video was viewed more than 441,300 times. But one viewer made all the difference.

Kris Sipe, whose TikTok handle is KrazyKris88, shared Shelly’s video with his followers and that clip has been viewed more than 5.1 million times.  

In that video, Sipe encourages his followers to send Miles letters to his P.O. Box, which is posted on Davis’ TikTok profile. 

"Please can we flood this young man with an airplane full of letters, videos, cartoon books, coloring books, stuffed animals or just a simple, ‘Hi, how are you?’" Sipe asks his viewers. 

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Sipe’s viewers did not disappoint. According to Davis, Miles has received "hundreds and hundreds of packages a day." Davis said that she’s even occasionally had to make two trips from the post office to get everything.

After another TikTok user shared Davis's clip, it went viral and now, Miles gets "hundreds and hundreds" of packages a day, Davis told FOX News. (Courtesy of Shelly Davis)

"I just wanted him to get a letter, maybe have a pen pal," Davis told FOX News. "Now he can't even do that because I don't have time to help him write letters and stuff."

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Miles has gotten letters from the Netherlands, Ireland, Australia, the U.K., Germany and Canada and is expecting a package from South Africa soon, Davis said. 

"It’s not just here in the United States," Davis said. "It’s all over the world."

She also explained that her family has donated some of the items they’ve received to local organizations, rather than keep it all. 

Davis said she’s feeling "grateful, but overwhelmed" by the outpouring. And she really had no idea her video would go so far.

"The overwhelming response is just amazing," Davis said.