‘I Was Popular!’ Special Needs Girl in Colonie Gets Bday Surprise of a Lifetime

"We don't know how many of these parties we're going to have for Eva," Angie Scotto said as she planned the surprise bday drive-by for her daughter

At 12:15 PM on Saturday afternoon, the parking lot at Taft Furniture in Colonie started to fill up with friends family, strangers, vintage cars, trucks, motorcycles, first responders, and even Santa and Mrs. Claus.

We were still about 45 minutes away from Eva Scotto's surprise birthday parade, but there were at least 30 or 40 cars anticipating the big day, waiting to be lined up, and that number would nearly double.

A few weeks ago, Angie Scotto from Colonie sent an open invitation to attend the surprise 14th bday parade drive-by to bring some much-needed smiles to her daughter who has endured so much.

See video and photos from Eva's surprise bday drive-by below!

Eva,14, has a rare disorder called Mitochondrial Disease that affects her autonomic nervous system. The disease - sadly with no known cure - has debilitated this young girl's body in too many ways to count.

Angie says that it's a miracle that Eva is still here, having already outlived the original doctor diagnosis and every day is a blessing

Local first responders get involved as the parade grows to 90 cars

With help from the Town of Colonie Police, the Midway Fire Department, and other local fire departments, the growing size of the parade was never an issue as police and fire escorts helped with crowd control and the flow of traffic.

When it was all said and done, Eva's drive-by parade had almost 90 cars, much more than what Angie had originally thought. "We thought that maybe 7 or 8 cars would show up, we never expected this many!"

As for Eva, she was in her glory the whole time, and how could she not be?  So many people, so much love, homemade signs and banners, noisemakers, presents, lights and sirens from our awesome first responders, and even a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.

"I Was Popular!"

When the parade came to a close, Eva and her family stood out on the front lawn of their Colonie home, exchanging warm hugs with some of the many new friends made on Saturday.

When asked about the large crowd of people who came to celebrate her special day, Eva all smiles, and was a bit speechless at first but then offered, "It was great...I was popular!"

And we were happy to just be a small part of it!