The touching story of a Tauranga mum's hunt for her sick little boy's lost soft toy now has a happy ending.
Micah Stoodley, 10, who developed chronic pain earlier this year, was devastated when his little dog toy Blue went missing after a stay in Tauranga Hospital.
Mum-of-four Karen Stoodley looked and looked for a month before posting on Facebook to ask if anyone had a Blue. She had little hope - Blue was more than 10 years old and the only picture she could find was of the dog's behind.
The Bay of Plenty Times picked up the story and it was shared far and wide - 85 times from our Facebook page alone.
On October 28, the day after publication, Micheal Stoodley was sitting with his wife in hospital as she recovered from a 10-and-a-half-hour surgery to remove a brain tumour the day before, when he saw a post with a picture of Blue.