Dad's desperate quest to find rare Postman Pat VHS for his son with autism
And we thought our kids offered up some tricky Christmas lists... ?
Remember the story about a dad who was searching for a discontinued Tommee Tippee sippy cup for his 13-year-old son with autism?
And how happy we all were when – in addition to loads of parents offering their old ones – Tommee Tippee offered to make 500 cups just for him, so he’d never go without?
Well, here’s a similarly heart-warming tale about the dad of a teenage boy named Thomas, who has severe autism.
James Dutton took to Twitter to ask for help, after Thomas put the incredibly rare 1981 VHS Postman Pat’s Prize Postbag on his Christmas list.
Of course, James quickly found out it wasn’t for sale – anywhere, not even on Amazon.
Desperate, he popped a picture on the social media site and asked his followers:
“Does anyone have or know of anyone who may still have this VHS? My severely autistic son Thomas has written it on his Xmas list... please let me know!”
Quickly, James was inundated with comments offering advice, and dozens of users searching their lofts to see if they had a copy of the video…
But 2 days later, after Strictly star Brendan Cole retweeted James’ plea for help, a copy was found in Bournemouth!
“STOP PRESS!! Thanks to wonderful @jilly284 seeing a retweet from @BrendanCole a copy's been found!” he updated on Twitter.
“The response has been absolutely overwhelming and I'm so grateful to everyone for taking the time to give advice, or search in attics! The heartwarming side of human nature ❤️ ”
19-year-old Thomas’ mum and dad revealed he is “obsessed” with children’s TV characters, but Postman Pat’s definitely his number one.
He’s such a huuuge Pat fan, we’re really hoping he’ll be thrilled by the gift come Christmas morning.
And delighted when he finds out that the animators behind the series have been in touch with James, too!
We’re glad this story had a happy ending ?
Image: Twitter/James Dutton
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