PARKER, Colo. — It may be a stuffed animal, but I believe everyone knows exactly how Collins feels.
This 2-year-old warrior, who had open heart surgery when she was 10 days old, has lost her best friend "Toodles." Her parents bought her Toodles the day she received that surgery for a congenital heart defect known as Transposition of the Great Arteries.
What makes this even more upsetting is her family believes they lost the beloved stuffed animal while performing a good deed: they were donating to Goodwill. Her mother, Courtney, explained that Collins was playing with a tote bag they were donating and most likely left Toodles inside of it before their donations were taken away.
"I've probably cried more than my daughter... because I just feel so bad," she told me virtually, after trying to put her daughter down for a nap without her bunk buddy. "I mean, she reads books and Toodles turns the pages. He's very intertwined [with] our day-to-day lives."
In the above story, you can hear more about how we can help the Houtman Family find Toodles. Pretty much, if you go to any Goodwill in Colorado, please check for that bag and then peek inside for a pink, stuffed dog.
