Airline to the rescue as beloved teddy takes longer holiday than expected

A WOMAN'S frantic search for her daughter’s “irreplaceable” teddy bear left on a Ryanair flight to Lanzarote at the start of November ended on Wednesday night after the bear, called Besta, was found and flown home to be reunited with its owner.

The drama started on November 2nd when Moira Griffin from Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, and her 12-year-old daughter set off on a week-long holiday to the Spanish island.

Almost as soon as the pair had disembarked from the aircraft, they realised the teddy, given to the girl more than 10 years ago by a close relative who has since died, was not with them.

There followed a frantic week in which Ms Griffin spent hours each day ringing and faxing the airline, in Dublin and on the island, putting up posters in Lanzarote and e-mailing a local radio station pleading for help in locating Besta.The story struck a chord with the radio station.

Appeals for Besta’s safe return were broadcast on the news over three days while Ms Griffin and her daughter were on the island. The pleas came to nothing, however, and the pair returned to Ireland empty-handed.

As the days passed with no news, she grew increasingly pessimistic. “I had almost given up hope that it would be handed in and was convinced it had ended up in a black bin bag somewhere.”

Ms Griffin had not given up entirely, however, and she placed an ad in The Irish Timesoffering a reward for the bear's safe return. Then, on Monday night, there was a dramatic breakthrough.

“I got a call from Ryanair ground crew in Lanzarote. They asked me to describe Besta, which I did, and my description matched a bear which had been handed in to their ground crew.”

Ryanair said it would fly the bear to Dublin at no cost.

“I was on tenterhooks right up until I had it in my hands,” she added. “I would not have done this, gone to such lengths, for anything else, but this bear was simply irreplaceable and it means so much to us.”

She expressed her thanks to Ryanair staff who, she said, were “very helpful” both in Dublin and in Spain. “They had notes posted in head office in Dublin about the teddy. It could easily have been handed in over in Lanzarote and left in a cupboard somewhere, but they cared enough to make the call and to fly it back to Ireland.

“It’s not leaving home again, that’s for sure.”