Granddaughter’s plea for her ‘lonely’ Sydney nan who bought her own birthday cake with only the few dollars she had left

A LONELY, elderly Sydney woman felt “depressed” after she was forced to buy herself her own birthday cake with the little bit of money she had left in her purse.

Stacey McLachlan‎ with her grandmother Barbara Vos. Picture: Facebook

A LONELY, elderly Sydney woman felt “depressed” after she was forced to buy herself her own birthday cake with the little bit of money she had left in her purse.

But what happened next was something she never expected.

Barbara Vos’ granddaughter Stacey McLachlan heard her granny had spent her 70th birthday at Minto Marketplace, in Sydney’s south west, where she was spotted purchasing a cake.

The 21-year-old decided to boost Ms Vos’ spirits by posting on Camden-Narellan Community Noticeboard for people to reach out to her and wish her a happy birthday.

Her idea behind this was to read out the messages to Ms Vos later on to show her how “loved” she was.

The post amassed about 1400 comments and floods of flowers and hundreds of dollars of gifts were sent to Ms Vos’ home in what was supposed to be a simple gesture.

Barbara was visited by local business owners including a character from The Fairy Cottage. Picture: Facebook

“I was not expecting that from the community,” Ms McLachlan said.

“So many people inboxed me and a local furniture business gave her a $200 gift voucher.

“I popped over late last night — she was so overwhelmed.”

Ms McLachlan wrote on the page for “a massive favour” yesterday.

“It’s my Nan’s 70th birthday today and unfortunately I cannot be with her. My Nan is such a beautiful person and I love her immensely,” she wrote.

“She lives with her son who is not well at all and doesn’t leave the house. My grandad is in a nursing home with alcohol related dementia so she gets very lonely as you can imagine.

“She lives in a little unit in Minto and people might often see her grocery shopping at Minto Marketplace with the little money she has. I would be soooo happy if you could wish her a Happy 70th Birthday on this page so that I can show her all the love and birthday wishes!

“It breaks my heart when I was told by someone I know had bumped into her at the shops yesterday and she was saying she was feeling depressed and buying herself a birthday cake. If you could show a lonely lady some love her way, I will be forever grateful.”

Hundreds of comments bombarded the page.