Boy replaces sick 4-year-old's damaged teddy bear with his own identical 'Dog'

Eight-year-old Landon Fougere didn't hesitate when he learned a little boy who's sick was looking for the very same teddy bear he owned.

He decided to give his away. 

"He can play with it," said Landon, a Grade 3 student from Dartmouth, N.S.

"He can like trace it out of colouring, and he can hug it, and he can sleep with it."

Margot Bird, who works for Dollarama in Fredericton, N.B., posted about the search for the teddy bear on Facebook earlier this month. She said it had been purchased from one of the company's stores a couple years ago.

It belonged to Jaxon Morton, a four-year-old from Saint John battling stage-four cancer, who always had his bear, named Barry, by his side. 

But the stuffed animal was now badly damaged with holes throughout. Jaxon's family had been desperately searching for a replacement without any luck, Bird said. 

Bird posted a photo of the stuffed animal — brown with black ears, googly eyes, and a red ribbon tied in a bow.

Brandee Fougere thought it bore a striking resemblance to one of Landon's teddy bears, whom he had named Dog.

"Once I told him about this little boy in the hospital, he didn't even hesitate. He was just like, 'I'm giving my bear away,'" said Fougere.

"We were almost in tears ... He did make this Christmas really special for everyone."

'Sorry I lost the bow tie'

When Fougere contacted the woman who made the post on Monday, it only took a day for someone in New Brunswick to drive to Dartmouth and collect the teddy bear.

The bear was sent by mail this week in time for Jaxon's surgery at the IWK in Halifax. He's then going to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. 

Landon included a letter to the boy wishing him well and also offering an apology: "P.S. I'm sorry I lost the bow tie."

Bird said after speaking to Jaxon's family, it's clear the bear means a lot to him.

"I think it's his safe haven," she said. "He's been through a lot of surgeries at the age of four. That's more than any child should have to go through."

Bird said after receiving Landon's bear, another boy from Caraquet, N.B, offered up his as well.

"I think it's just so beautiful for boys at that age to understand and have empathy for someone else in the world that may need something," she said. 

Proud parents

Josh Fougere, Landon's dad, said it's been an emotional week for the family. They're proud of their son but also thinking of the boy and his family who have to be in the hospital ahead of Christmas.

"I put out prayers and thoughts for this little boy," he said. "I'm thinking of what he has to go through, and it's right before Christmas."

Landon is an only child and both his parents say he's not always keen to part with his toys. But this time was different. 

"We told him that it was a really great thing that he did, and we were very proud of him," said Josh Fougere. 

Landon — who had owned the teddy bear since he was about three years old — said he wasn't too sad to part with him. 

"I didn't play with that teddy bear that much," he said.