Deborah Hitchins posted this picture and message on Facebook to try and reunite teddy with owner (Picture: Caters)

An extremely happy toddler was reunited with her beloved – but lost – toy bunny after 30,000 people rallied together on Facebook to find the young owner.

Little Maddie Cross, who is 18 months old, had misplaced her pink fluffy bunny while on holiday in Baggy Point, near Broyde Beach in Devon last week.

But when Deborah Hitchins, a holidaymaker, found it, she didn’t just throw it in the refuse like many others would have done.

Instead, she started a social media campaign to get it back to its rightful owner by posting a picture on Facebook with the message: ‘Please share this photo and help him get back to the little person who loves and cuddles him.’


Baggy Point, where the ted went missing (Picture: Miranda Would/Flickr)

What she didn’t perhaps anticipate would be 30,000 people sharing the picture to their friends and family on the site, each doing their little bit to help bring the ted and the tot back together again.



Hitchins’ campaign went viral within 24 hours after she initially posted it, and was eventually spotted by Maddie’s parents, Sarah, 34, and Brad, 33.

‘I just wanted to get him home,’ Hitchens, 40, from Newport, Wales told The Sun.

Maddie’s parents couldn’t believe their luck, either: ‘When we saw Deborah’s appeal we were gobsmacked – it was so generous,’ said Sarah of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Brad said: ‘Maddie has now got a big smile back on her face.’