Pinky's big adventure: Plush bunny lost at airport finds her way to 9-year-old owner
Summer Tonne says she's making a cake to celebrate Pinky's return
A bunny named Pinky had a wild adventure in the Halifax airport before taking a business-class flight to be reunited with her owner.
"We're going to make her a cake," says Summer Tonne, Pinky's nine-year-old owner, of her plans for the bunny's return.
Probably chocolate, she added.
Summer has had Pinky since she was two — the stuffed rabbit was a present from her grandmother.
On Sunday, Summer and her mother, Lori-Anne Tonne, were flying from New Brunswick to St. John's. They live in Vancouver, but Lori Tonne grew up in Bay de Verde and they were going to visit family.
But Pinky was mistakenly left behind in the Halifax airport during a hectic transfer.
"I cried every night before we found her," Summer said. "I was really sad.
"I really love her because she's pink and that's almost my favourite colour, and she has brown eyes just like me, and she's very fluffy."
Desperate to find the bunny, her mother wrote a Facebook post asking anyone going through the airport to keep an eye out for the toy.
And it worked.
'Pinky's back!'
Deena Riggs, a friend of Lori Anne's in St. John's, shared the post. Her friend Lindsay Meldrum saw it. Meldrum works at the Halifax airport and had a look around.
Sure enough, there was Pinky.
Meldrum sent Lori Tonne a Facebook message on Tuesday and told her she'd found a bunny.
"We screamed and yelled and we were like, 'Oh yay, Pinky's back!'" said Summer.
Her mom figured Pinky would be sent to them in the mail, but she was wrong.
All day Tuesday, Tonne received Facebook messages from Meldrum, showing Pinky having adventures and meeting new friends around the airport.
Pinky drove a police cruiser and had a snuggle with a police officer, munched on some multicoloured popcorn, had a coffee at Tim Hortons and stopped in to check out some hoodies at a gift shop.
She even sat in the cockpit of the plane.
When it came time to take off, Pinky was tucked into her own business-class seat with a newspaper and a glass of juice.
"I just wanted it to be a little extra special for her, because I know how special teddies are to kids," Meldrum said.
'Thankful for people who have kind hearts'
Pinky touched down in St. John's Tuesday night just before midnight, and was greeted by Tonne's aunt and uncle.
"[They] sent me a photo this morning of Pinky resting on [their] couch and said that she's looking forward to seeing Summer," said Lori Tonne
Friends are picking Pinky up from her aunt's house and bringing the bunny to reunite with her rightful owners tomorrow in Carbonear.
"I can't believe that this has happened. It's just one of those things in life where you're just so thankful for people who have kind hearts and do their best to help other people," Tonne said.
"We would have had tears every night, and it would have been a terrible loss for our family. Even though it is just a stuffed animal, we love her like she's one of our own."