Emma Sanders, 4, is delighted with her new ‘Sarah Bear’
A little girl who was given a teddy bear when she ended up in hospital after breaking her arm, was distraught when she lost her furry friend.
But there was a happy ending when A&E staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital presented her with a new bear.
Emma Sanders, 4, from Freckleton, first attended A&E in May of 2016 when she broke her arm.
The hospital has a scheme in partnership with local Lady Masons in which children are given a free teddy bear if they are particularly distressed when they attend the Children’s A&E department.
Emma named her teddy ‘Sarah Bear’ and was inconsolable when she lost her toy on a recent family holiday.
Emma’s mum and dad, Hayley and Will Sanders, contacted the hospital in a desperate bid to find a replacement bear.
Emma hugs her new ‘Sarah Bear’
The hospital staff were happy to be able to help and Hayley and Will made a donation to the Trust’s charity – the Blue Skies Hospitals Fund.
A delighted Emma said: “I remember coming in and getting the bear when I broke my arm.
“I was very scared at first but when I got there I was happy. The nurses were very nice. They had a special room with toys and they gave me a teddy. I called her Sarah Bear.
“I broke my left arm. They took lots of X-rays. They put a pink cast on it.”
Hayley said: “Emma loved stroking the yellow ribbon around Sarah Bear’s neck when she was going off to sleep.
“She was so upset when the bear was lost. We’d like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the hospital staff. We’re so grateful.”
When the nurses presented Emma with her new bear she said: “I’m very excited. She is going to be called Sarah Bear like the other one.”
As a special gesture the staff also gave Emma’s two-year-old brother William a teddy with a green ribbon.
Mum Hayley Sanders with Emma and William and the bears
Hayley Sanders, Emma Sanders, William Sanders, staff nurse Sarah Bell, student nurse Hayley Murphy and Children’s A&E sister Caroline Gomery with the bears