A U.S. dollmaker's handiwork is melting hearts on the internet, after she shared photos of a young cancer survivor holding a one-eyed bunny made to look like her.
Idaho-based dollmaker Jessica Sebastian's Facebook post shows little Brynn, who lost an eye to cancer, holding her brand new stuffed bunny on her third birthday. Sebastian says the doll was a custom job commissioned by Brynn's mother, Danielle, who "wanted her daughter to have a doll that looks like her, and only has her right eye."
"The girl had started to notice that she was different and her sweet mama read articles about how finding a doll who matches how a child looks can be helpful and therapeutic," Sebastian wrote.
She called the project one of the most "tender and meaningful" creations she's ever made.
Sebastian says she fast-tracked the project at her dollmaking business, once she heard Brynn's compelling story. "She was two years old and she had just lost her eye to cancer, and I just couldn't refuse," Sebastian told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. "I just wanted her to have a doll that looked like her."
Sebastian's Facebook post shows Brynn holding her new doll, while dressed in a Wonder Woman outfit.
"It perfectly represents the strength and courage of this little superhero," Sebastian wrote.
A version of Sebastian's post has received more than 33,000 likes on Love What Matters, a popular feel-good Facebook page.
"In my little small world, I would call it viral," she said, adding that the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
The project may also have opened the door to a new niche for Sebastian, who has had several more inquiries about unique-looking dolls.
"I've had requests to make dolls who are missing a limb or who are missing an eye, who have had skin grafts, (or) who have had heart surgeries," she said.
Sebastian says she's also partnering with another small business to make dolls from the clothing of children who have passed away.
"I'm really excited about that," she said. "If I am going to have a small business and I'm able to make things, I love that they have a higher purpose."
