Mara Soriano needed some help.
The 28-year-old Vancouver resident was in the midst of moving house when a backpack containing some of her valuables was stolen. While unpacking a U-Haul truck, Soriano got a call that a friend had been in a bike accident. Rushing to help, she dropped the backpack on the curb nearby where her fiancé was still unloading.
"I dropped everything next to the U-Haul and just tried to make my way to my friend as quickly as possible," Soriano told CNN. "In my rush, I neglected to tell my fiancé that I put the bag by the front of the U-Haul. He immediately started unloading the back of it, so he didn't even know it was at the front."
Most valuable of all was the teddy bear that was also whisked away in the backpack by a common thief.
You see, it wasn’t just any bear. The bespectacled teddy, wearing a red and white dress and white “denim” jacket, contained a voice box with a last recording from Soriano’s late mother, who passed away last year at 53 after a battle with cancer, to her daughter.
"It was so important to me because she had a recording on it that was specifically just for me that said she loved me, she was proud of me and she'll always be with me," Soriano said. "I hugged it every time I missed her."
Soriano did everything she could to get the word out about the stolen bear: In addition to walking the streets of Vancouver, handing out flyers and searching for any clues to the its whereabouts, she took to news outlets, catching the eye of one very high-profile Vancouver native.
After Ryan Reynolds offered up his help, other celebs followed suit, asking their networks far and wide to help Soriano find her Mama Bear.
And. It. Worked.
Mama Bear was reportedly returned by two good samaritans Tuesday night no worse for wear, besides having lost her thick, black frames, which Soriano said was her mom’s signature look, and her reunion with the memory of her mother was heart-wrenching in the best way.
Let’s all give three cheers to Canada’s finest and hug our loved ones a little harder today.