Build-A-Bear replaces mistakenly-donated teddy that held recording of late mother’s heartbeat

A little girl now has a new teddy bear that contains a recording of her late mother’s heartbeat after the initial toy was mistakenly donated.

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Last month a Tennessee family’s quest to recover a Build-A-Bear rainbow bear went viral after the bear was mistakenly donated to Goodwill.

“My daughter’s mom passed away and her grandma made her bear with her mom’s heartbeat in it,” Tylor Kennedy told WATE last month.

The bear has never turned up.

But after Build-A-Bear heard about the story, the company contacted WRIL to find out more about the missing bear. They were able to find an identical Rainbow Sparkle Bear and since the family still had the original recording of the mother’s heartbeat used to make the one for the first bear, they were able to make a new one.

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The company then shipped the new bear to WRIL in an effort to get it into the arms of the child. And this week they did.

“We extend our gratitude to Build-A-Bear Company and WRIL Radio for their efforts in providing a matching Rainbow Sparkle bear with the heartbeat of the 4-year-old child’s late mother placed in the new bear. Goodwill Industries-Knoxville is grateful for the outpouring of support in trying to locate the original bear that was accidentally donated. The new bear has been reunited with the family,” Cynthia Dodson, communications director for the Knoxville Goodwill, said, according to WRIL.

However, the search is still on for the original Rainbow Sparkle Bear.

According to WATE, Build-A-Bear has a program called Find-A-Bear that helps get misplaced stuffed animals back to their original owners. When someone builds a furry friend at Build-A-Bear, a bar code is placed in the bear and creators can then register the toy with the program. If a lost stuffed animal is returned to a Build-A-Bear location, the store can scan the barcode and hopefully reunite it with its owner.