Ryan Reynolds Helps Reunite Woman With Priceless Stolen Teddy Bear After Offering $5,000 Reward

Jul 30, 2020 by apost team

On Tuesday night, Vancouver resident Mara Soriano was reunited with her priceless teddy bear after fellow Vancouver local Ryan Reynolds offered a $5,000 reward for returning the stuffed animal. Mara's build-a-bear contained a voice recording of her mother who passed away last year, and it was stolen from her with other items as she was moving from Toronto to a new flat in Vancouver last Friday. 

Soriano's priceless bear was stolen along with her iPad and Nintendo Switch in a backpack while she was moving out of her Toronto apartment and to Vancouver last Friday. The reason the bear was so important to her was because it contained a final recorded message from her mother, Marilyn Sorano, who died of cancer in June of 2019 at the age of 53, according to CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). 

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Soriano told CBC how she felt knowing the bear was stolen:

"It just makes me feel devastated. I'm absolutely crushed."

She then added more details about the recording in the bear itself:

"At the hospice her voice was different. Much softer. Not the mum I grew up with. That bear is the last memory I have of her speaking in her normal voice. She said that she loved me and she was proud of me and that she'll always be with me."

Mara Soriano was born in the Phillippines and when she was just nine years old moved to Toronto, Canada. She continued:

"It's a reminder of home. The bear has a message in it in Filipino. It says 'I love you,' but in our language. So it's very specific and very unique. I just really want to find my bear. That's all that I care about."

Reynolds got word of the story, likely through the many viral tweets circulating about the bear missing, and decided to post a $5,000 reward for the bear's return. His outreach worked and the bear was returned to Mara on Tuesday night, by two people who had taken it from the original thief, according to Kiro7 News. 

Deborah Globe, a reporter from CBC, tweeted that the bear was even returned in a safe condition. 

We're so happy Mara was reunited with such an important reminder of her mother! What do you think of Reynold's ability to help Soriano get her priceless bear back? Do you know of any similar stories where celebrities have been able to help people? Let us know and be sure to pass on this heartwarming story to others!