Lost teddy bear goes on an adventure before being reunited with 4-year-old boy

Get ready to cry happy tears.
 By 
Brian Koerber
 on 

A young boy has been reunited with his lost teddy bear after losing his furry friend at the airport.

Like most 4-year-old kids, Luke Swofford has a stuffed animal, affectionately named Teddy Bear, that he brought everywhere with him. Sadly, Teddy went missing at Dallas Love Field airport earlier this month when the boy was returning to Texas from Colorado with his grandparents.

“They had a flight delay and Teddy Bear had been kept in a suitcase to keep him safe. But when they got to baggage claim and it was way past bedtime they pulled Teddy Bear out for hugs and snuggles,” Luke’s mom, Nikki Swofford, told ABC News.

Somewhere in the chaos that is leaving the airport, Teddy got left behind. According to ABC, the family raced back to the airport as soon as they realized Teddy was gone, but Nikki and Luke were unable to track him down.

Nikki says she was "just heartbroken and "so sad for Luke." The bear has been a part of Luke's life since he was just a year old, so it was a big deal for the whole family.

"Anybody who’s had their kids’ favorite toy around all the time, you know they’re a part of your family," Nikki said. "We were all heartbroken. And you hurt when your kids hurt.”

After asking the airline if they found Teddy, the family posted a plea to Facebook and Twitter, which they credit in the finding of Teddy.

Eventually, the airport was able to determine that one of its staff rescued Teddy after being behind. The airport even posted a clip to Twitter to reveal the good news.

While staff waited the family's arrival, Teddy spent some quality time at the airport. He posed for pictures with pilots in the cockpit of a plane, joined the security staff, and helped with some construction on the tarmac.

Luke was finally reunited with Teddy on Wednesday, which was as precious as you could imagine.

“He jumped up and down like a crazy man,” Nikki said. “He let Nana hug him and me hug him and little sister hug him, but other than that, Teddy Bear has been in his arms.”

The family says they are going to make one modification to Teddy, just incase he ever gets lost again.

“We’re going to stitch our phone numbers on the back so we can’t lose him again,” Nikki told ABC.

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Brian Koerber

Brian was the Culture Editor and has been working at Mashable on the web culture desk since 2014.

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