Homeward bound: Local senator, Twitter users help reunite stranded toy bunny

A stuffed rabbit found at Vancouver International Airport is on the way home to family staying Edmonton after Paula Simons posted about the lost toy on Twitter. (Source: Paula Simons/Twitter)

A lost toy rabbit, named BunBun, is finally on the way home to family, thanks to a few good samaritans and Twitter users.

The stuffed rabbit was found lost and alone at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) by Celia Taylor, whose flight home to Edmonton had been cancelled due to the weather.

Before dropping the bunny off at guest services, she snapped some pictures and sent them to her mother, Paula Simons.

Simons is a former journalist and independent Alberta senator based in Edmonton, and locals may recognize her from Twitter, where she holds a modest 65,000 followers.

Not sure what might come of it, she tweeted out the picture of the then-nameless stuffed bunny.

Do you know this bunny? This well-loved fren got left behind in the frenzy at the Vancouver airport today. My daughter turned Bunny into the #YVR lost & found this evening, after her own flight was cancelled. She’s hoping for a happy ending. (I am too.) #yvrsnow #Vancouver pic.twitter.com/dbahayR8nd

— Paula Simons (@Paulatics) December 21, 2022

"I sent this out into the void and I really didn't think it would get this much of a response because Twitter's been in a kind of an odd state the last little while," she said.

"The next morning, it had gone viral in a modest sort of way," Taylor said.

The post had gotten over 575,000 views and 1,281 retweets as of Tuesday.

Simons said perhaps it was because so many people were delayed, stuck or rerouted over the holidays as winter wreaked havoc on airports and highways.

"I think the reason this resonated is that, especially on the day that it happened, so many people were feeling despair," Simons said. "And I think this gave people a little sense of hope and a little sense of humanity in the midst of all the travel chaos."

It's also something many parents or children have been through, Simons added, sparking memories of lost toys and forgotten friends – including Simons' own crisis when her daughter's favourite doll was lost at Kingsway Mall.

"We went rushing back to the mall in a tizzy, and there was one of the janitorial staff at the mall, basically as soon as she saw a small girl in significant distress, came running up to us and said, 'I found her! I have her safe!'" Taylor said. "And to this day, I am grateful to that cleaning lady."

"I think everybody, most everybody, has a story like that, which is why this bunny saga resonated with so many people."

Three days after Simons posted, she received a response from another Twitter user whose son had lost his rabbit, Bunbun. And on Christmas Day, YVR tweeted that the lost rabbit was on the way to getting home.

That's our son's Bunbun! After 60 hours of delays and flight cancellations, we finally arrived in Edmonton for our son's first time meeting his Canadian family. Our luggage is still lost in transit so reuniting them would be a Christmas miracle! pic.twitter.com/6noBrJ8jlZ

— Neva bassingthwaite (@Nevabassingthwa) December 24, 2022

Simons said she's happy to see her daughter take the time to do that very small thing that would help another small person reunite with their special something.

"Every mother wants to feel proud of their kid and that they've raised them right. I don't know how much credit I deserve for her, but I'm pretty proud of her nonetheless."

However, Taylor isn't sure she's the hero of the story and said lots of people worked to help Bunbun and other families through the Christmas chaos.

"Everybody who has worked to bring families back together this holiday season deserves to be interviewed as some kind of hero," Taylor said. "I don't feel like I did very much in bringing this bunny to a desk, but I'm glad I was able to do that bare minimum good deed and get Bunbun back to his home."

REUNITED

On New Year's Eve, the "bunny saga" came to an end with Bunbun finally safe at home - a happy ending during a chaotic holiday season for at least one boy and his best bunny friend. 

A happy, hoppy, ending! Thank you to all the people who shared the story and brought BunBun home. #yeg #yvr https://t.co/IrcmBGNs1W

— Paula Simons (@Paulatics) December 31, 2022