When the owner heard it was for Elijah's birthday, he said they absolutely had to be open on a Sunday
By Caitlin O’Kane
Updated on: January 15,2019 / 11:32 AM
/ CBS News
An Alabama Chick-fil-A opened on Sunday – something the popular fast food chain normally doesn’t do – so a 14-year-old boy with special needs could celebrate his birthday.
Elijah Sprague is autistic and has cerebral palsy, and his dream is to work in a drive-through. So his family pulled a few strings and the Chick-fil-A in Mobile let Elijah work there for his birthday.
« My brother, [Elijah’s] uncle, is one of the managers at the local Chick-fil-A, » Rene Sprague told CBS News. Chick-fil-A is one of Elijah’s favorite places and they visit his uncle there often.
Her brother didn’t know what the restaurant’s owner would say about opening on a Sunday, but when he heard it was for Elijah, he said yes, without a doubt.
« He was like, ‘Why are you evening asking? Absolutely, we have to do it,' » Sprague said.
The restaurant opened on Sunday and the staff prepared cookies for Elijah to hand out. « He loves drive-through windows, » Sprague said. Elijah got to sit at the drive-through window and hand out cookies to about 40 friends that came by for the special day. After all the cars went through the drive-through – some of them twice – Eljiah and his friends got to play inside the Chick-fil-A and eat dessert.
« He knew every single person who came through, » Sprague said. « He was chucking cookies out the window. He thought it was hilarious and he was talking to everybody. »
Elijah was born 18 weeks premature and has limited speech, his mom said. She is a nurse who worked at the NICU where Elijah was treated as a newborn. The Spragues adopted Elijah when he was six months old and were told he would only live about a year. He has far exceeded his life expectancy and has brought happiness to the family’s life every day.
« This is super special to us, » Sprague said. « Elijah’s not going to graduate like our other kids. He’s not going to get married or have kids. So this is just a really cool experience to us for him to have this level of attention… it’s neat for people to recognize he’s a really cool kid. »
Sprague says Elijah’s abilities far outweigh his disabilities, and she is happy his story can help inspire others with special needs. « The community needs to realize this is a really special population of kids, » she said.
