Up for adoption – this gorgeous little Tambo Teddy was looking for a new place to live. He was given back to Tambo Teddies to find him a loving home. Named Allawah Angus, bear number 9763 spent most of his life living in Geelong, Victoria but his owner found she could no longer fit him into her life and bought him on a road trip back to his birthplace in Tambo. After we had him on display in the shop for a couple of weeks and many people expressed interest in purchasing him we decided that we should adopt him out and find him a fitting home. Looking back in our records we couldn’t quite determine the year Allawah Angus was created, but he was a fairly early bear and his colour is berber. We no longer have berber as a colour and thought he was a honey that had just deepened in colour with age. Dressed in a hat and bear-as-a-bone coat, we thought he was a little Aussie ringer – but came to the conclusion that he was dressed later as he doesn’t have the suede paws, swag or whip that our ringers have to complete their ‘look’. However he is a small, berber coloured basil dressed smartly in a coat and hat and is in pristine condition.
We put a call out on Facebook and through our e-newsletter to find a worthy owner and we were swamped with responses! There were so many loving people and families that offered to take little Allawah into their home and lives. But we had to make a decision and the submission that touched the three of us the most was Kyarun Cooms story.
Ky is a ten year old proud indigenous man from Central Queensland. At this tender age he suffered a stroke and it was only due to the fabulous medical staff who realised what had occurred and had him rapidly flown to the Lady Cilento Hospital in Brisbane that he survived after spending a day in surgery. As you can imagine, it was an immediate “all systems go mission” to leave CQ and his Mother, Sam, did not have time to pack a bag for Ky or herself before being airlifted to Brisbane. Not even a teddy to keep him company.
Shannon Hamilton from the Department of Communities nominated Ky to be Allawah Angus’s new family because Ky, like Allawah, was a very long way from home and needed some company to support him on his journey to recovery.
Allawah Angus arrived to live with Ky on July 20 when he was out of hospital and taking things quietly. Ky still has a very long journey ahead of him, he will be going back to hospital early August for more treatment and tests and little Allawah Angus will be alongside him for support.
We were really touched by Ky’s story and were proud that we were able to bring this little boy and his family some happiness. His joy and excitement can be seen on his face as he opened the distinctive hexagonal box that contained his very own Tambo Teddy.
We thank everyone for their nominations and am sure that everyone will agree that Ky was a very worthy recipient. We wish him a speedy and full recovery.