A stuffed Jellycat bunny that was taken on a trip around the world after being found, abandoned, in Vancouver’s airport last month has been reunited with its rightful owner. Alberta resident Joey Gibbs unexpectedly found himself at the centre of a story reminiscent of a Hallmark movie when he stumbled across the pink, floppy-eared teddy while waiting on a flight to Seoul, and decided to take it travelling until he could return it to its owner. Gibbs had crafted a travelogue detailing the bunny’s adventures and posted it to social media, inciting thousands of likes and comments from people across the province who wanted to offer their support. After weeks of back-and-forth contact with potential owners and airline and airport staff, WestJet — the airline they had been flying with that fateful afternoon — contacted Gibbs to say the owner had been found. Better still, they lived just around the corner, in Edmonton. “I said I was open to mailing the bunny, whatever they were most comfortable with, and they told me that the family wanted to meet me directly,” says Gibbs. Naturally, the two parties decided to meet up at their local airport to carry out the return. The recipients were a mother and her young daughter who had lost the bunny in Vancouver’s airport while returning from a visit home to China. There had been a slight language barrier, but Gibbs garnered the mother had moved to the province two years prior to study, and had returned to China to reunite with her husband and young daughter to bring them both to Canada. Gibbs says returning the lost bunny meant he was able to offer the young girl a warm welcome to the country, making for an all-the-more heartwarming end to an already “pretty cool” tale. “The mother was crying, and was pretty excited that we found her,” says Gibbs. The girl had “grabbed the bunny and hugged her and smelled her.” She had taken a seat on the airport floor and perused the photo album Gibbs had carefully made, brimming with photographs of the bunny’s viral adventures. To offer her gratitude, the mother had given Gibbs a gift basket laden with cookies and crackers and other treats. The bunny’s adventure had wrapped up “exactly how I had wanted,” says Gibbs. “Considering how far this bunny has travelled, over 30,000 kilometres, it was a bit of a shot in the dark to find the actual owner, not to mention she’s in the same city as me, and on the same side of the city,” he says. “I think we’re only 10 kilometres away from each other, so it’s a pretty interesting fate.” Gibbs said he’s grateful for the community rallying together, and credits the RCMP, the “eight to ten” WestJet staff, and the countless residents across B.C. and Alberta who fought to ensure the story had a happy ending. “Never underestimate the power of the people,” he says.
