4-Year-Old Searches For Stuffed Bear With Recording Of Her Late Mom's Heartbeat
Malorie Thompson
When I was a small child, I remember the terrible moment my mom accidentally donated a bag of clothes I wanted to keep. She had told me to separate my clothes into "keep" and "donate" bags, but she got them mixed up and sent the wrong bag to the thrift store (at least, that's what she says).
I noticed her mistake when I was at that thrift store and saw some of my favorite clothes hanging on the racks. We couldn't afford to buy them back and I was especially devastated to lose my favorite Winnie the Pooh-themed overalls and butterfly denim skirt. At the end of the day though, clothes are replaceable and I had enough clothes to get by.
Photo: Unforantuely, sometimes people mistakenly donate much more meaningful items that really aren't replaceable. That recently happened to a 4-year-old girl when her stuffed bear was sent to a Goodwill in Tazewell, Tennessee.
While losing the tie-dyed rainbow teddy bear from Build-a-Bear was hard enough, it was made worse because the bear had a recording of her now-deceased mother's heartbeat inside. That bear with the recording is priceless and irreplaceable to the young child and her family is desperately searching to bring it home.
A local radio station shared a Facebook post with photos of similar bears, explaining that beyond reaching out to local news station for help, a sign was also posted in the Goodwill store asking for the return of the stuffed animal.
In an update, they added that the manager of the store "feels that the bear is still most likely in the Tri-State area," which includes portions of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.
Tammy Brock, the child's grandmother, shared a video of the original bear with the heartbeat sound on Facebook so people could see exactly what the bear looks like.
According to ABC 6, the girl's father, Tylor Kennedy, said the bear is the last thing the girl has left of her mother.
He said, "Please, if y'all find it or see anybody that has one, just check or turn it into and I believe that somebody will get a reward if they dropped it off. I mean I know they'll get their money back for sure."
On April 18, 2023, Tammy shared on Facebook that the bear had still not been recovered, though the family remains hopeful.
