Most of us remember having that one toy we absolutely couldn’t be without.
If we were unlucky enough to misplace that toy, devastation ensued.
Yes, I am still miserable about my grandma losing Soft Brown Baby Cow (imaginative name, I know).
Millie McAlpine, 10, was heartbroken when she realised she had accidentally left her beloved teddy, Special Dog, in the room at the Hard Rock hotel in Universal Studios during a family holiday.
She realised too late that Special Dog hadn’t been carefully packed away, noticing his absence midway through the plane journey home.
Two weeks of sleepless nights followed. Millie had had Special Dog since she was born and slept with him every night, taking him on holiday, to sleepovers, and on school trips.
Friends and family tried to cheer Millie up with a new toy, but nothing filled the gap left by Special Dog.
‘There’s no way she could be without him,’ said Millie’s mum Lucy, from Felixstowe, Suffolk.
‘We were on the plane back home when Millie said: “Mummy I wish I had Special Dog”.
“We rang the hotel as soon as we could and spoke to them right up until we had to put our phones away but they said they couldn’t find him. We were completely in their hands.
‘I knew exactly what happened. When we were leaving Millie was tired and didn’t want to get out of bed so she got dressed in bed and obviously just left Special Dog there.
‘We had the whole day to remember but we just didn’t!
‘We were really concerned at how we were going to get through it. Family would come round with new teddies but nothing fitted the same, nothing was quite the same although she was very grateful.
‘We tried to find a replacement for Special Dog and thought about pretending it was Special Dog but we just knew that she would notice.’
The family were just beginning to lose hope when they were told the good news from the hotel – staff had found Special Dog and planned to fly him home.
Days later a package arrived address to Millie. Inside was a Hard Rock Cafe lunchbox containing Special Dog, along with a scarf, souvenirs, and photos of the teddy lounging by the water fountain and playing a guitar.
Millie was overjoyed and promptly burst into tears, in a moving moment captured by her parents on camera.
Lucy said: ‘I think she was a bit overwhelmed with emotion but she was just so happy!
‘We thought that Special Dog was lost forever but the hotel really went above and beyond to bring him home and they took some lovely photos of Special Dog enjoying his holiday!
‘We couldn’t thank them enough for getting our girl smiling again!’
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