Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Boy finds his lost Lego toy after creating a ‘missing’ poster
WHEN Jack Steel's Lego toy slipped out of his backpack while he was walking to school, he was heartbroken.
“It was a special Lego man because I made him,” said Jack, 10, who had visited the Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester, England, and modelled a Lego figure after himself. He named the toy “Mini Jack”, and carried it with him wherever he went. “It did look quite a lot like me,” he said.
When Jack arrived at school, he excitedly went to grab Mini Jack from his backpack. He noticed that he hadn't closed the zip all the way, and quickly realised that his treasured toy was nowhere to be found. His heart sank.
“I was really sad,” said Jack, who lives in Ulverston, a town of about 11 000 people, in Cumbria, England. “I thought about how I could get it back.”
One idea came to mind – a missing person poster.
Jack got to work with his crayons and crafted an elaborate illustration of the Lego toy. He labelled all the parts, including the eyebrows.
“Light brown quiff with matching eyebrows,” he wrote, describing the toy's hairstyle. “Hawaiian shirt (blue with palm trees) and an orange stripe on the bottom,” plus “dark green pants.”
“He is very special to me,” he added at the bottom of the illustration.
At the top of the poster, Jack wrote a message in big letters: “Lost!!! Has anyone seen this Lego man?” He also offered a reward of two British pounds – close to R50 – and included his home address.
“I thought I had lost him forever,” Jack said in a phone interview, adding that he packed Mini Jack in his bag because he wanted to show him to his grandmother after school.
When Jack's mother, Lorna Walker, fetched him from school that day, he told her about his missing Lego man. Although Jack seemed hopeful that his poster might help him track down the toy, his mother said he was holding back tears.
“He was really upset,” said Walker, adding that he told her about his plan to put the poster up on a pole along his morning walk to school. “It just made me feel sad,” she said.
Walker suggested they first retrace their steps, which they did but, unfortunately, they had no luck.
Walker then decided to share a picture of her son's poster on Facebook, in the hope that someone might have spotted his Lego man and picked it up.
“If anyone in Ulverston finds this Lego Man, please pop me a message. Jack made it at the lego shop and lost it on the way to school this morning, so he is absolutely gutted,” she wrote in a post, which was shared by dozens of people.
People sympathised with Jack in the comments, and one person offered to pick something new up for Jack at the Lego store.
Although Walker was touched by the support, she was doubtful anyone would find the toy.
“I never in a million years thought it would be found because it was so tiny,” she said, noting that her son has been a Lego lover from the age of 3.
However, Jack's poster served its purpose. A girl who used to go to school with Jack, and is a few years older, found the Lego man during her own walk to school, and showed it to her mother.
Her mother came across Walker's Facebook post that evening, and connected the dots. She sent Walker a message to say she had found a toy that matched Jack's drawing and description.
The story was first reported by The Mail, Ulverston's local paper.
Walker was stunned.
“I didn't think he'd ever get it back,” she said.
Jack was overjoyed.
“I was really happy,” he said. “I didn't think I was going to find him, and then when all the people saw the poster, they wanted to help.”
Jack and his mother said their hearts were warmed by their community's response. Rather than the reward, Walker offered the finder a box of chocolates.
Jack said that as soon as he was reunited with Mini Jack, “I put him in a little car that I got so he will be safe,” he said.
“I want to make sure I don't him again.”