Lost teddy tribute to arena bomb victim found

When two sisters found a teddy bear near a tram stop, they knew someone must have been missing it.

But they no idea of the sentimental value of the toy they had found in Oldham, or the tragic story behind it.

The pink teddy belonged to Lyric Holmes, and was a reminder of her friend Eilidh Macleod, who was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, aged 14.

After being reunited with the bear, Ms Holmes, 22, from Chadderton, said she had been "beside herself" to lose it and was "so grateful" to the girls who had found it.

Ms Holmes and Eilidh were teenagers when they met online and struck up a close friendship through their shared love of music and dancing.

Eilidh, from Barra in the Outer Hebrides, was one of 22 people killed in the attack on 22 May, 2017.

The bear that takes her name is the mascot of the One Love Manchester Project, which helps to support people affected by the tragedy.

Ms Holmes, who set up the project, takes the bear everywhere she goes.

But on Saturday, after taking a selfie with the teddy at the Hollinwood tram stop in her home town of Chadderton, Ms Holmes realised she had lost it.

"I was frantic," she said, as the bear had a "very sentimental and irreplaceable note inside".

Ms Holmes, who believed the teddy must have fallen out of her bag, put up posters in the area and made a social media appeal for the bear's safe return.

She was then contacted by a woman who had seen a poster outside her home.

The woman said her two daughters had found the bear on grass near the tram stop.

"They refused to take any money as a reward, so I am going to buy them a similar bear as a thank you," Ms Holmes said.

She said she had decided to stitch a tracker into it, but would be extra careful to make sure she was never again parted from her beloved reminder of her much-missed friend.

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