Four-year-old Phoebe Steel can now sleep at night after Toronto airport staff reunited her with her lost teddy bear.
“We had it right before the gate and then all of a sudden it disappeared so we think she might have dropped him just before boarding. Unfortunately we didn’t notice at first until the plane starting taking off,” said Pheobe’s mother Jennifer Steel.
“She was really tired and upset because she uses him for sleeping so she got upset and we realized he wasn’t on the plane.”
The family from Martensville, Sask., recently took a trip to the U.K. so their kids could visit their grandparents. On the way back to Saskatchewan, they had to catch a connecting flight from Toronto. That’s when Phoebe lost her teddy bear RaRa, her best friend since she was born.
Not having her favourite teddy by her side didn’t make for a pleasant flight to Saskatoon.
“It’s a security thing for her it was really tough on the plane when we lost him she had a breakdown and I apologize to anyone on that plane,” Steel said with a laugh.
So Steel did what any mother would do. She posted a message on the Pearson International Airport website, asking if any staff had seen this teddy bear. Within a couple of days they responded with good news.
“They just told us that they had some fun with RaRa and took photos and I didn’t expect that. I don’t know who did it, maybe the lost and found team. but they had a little adventure,” Steel said.
On Facebook the Toronto Airport staff posted pictures of RaRa wearing a Toronto Blue Jays jersey, RaRa passing through security and wandering through the airport. Then they sent RaRa home in a Purolator box along with another teddy bear, the airport’s mascot, so RaRa didn’t have to make the trip alone. The photos made waves online.
“(Phoebe) was really excited and I had to explain that it was coming in a parcel and one day when she came home the parcel was there waiting for her,” Steel said. “It’s my daughter’s childhood bear we never thought it would be a social media event like this.”