When a two-year-old passenger left his Buzz Lightyear action figure behind on one of their planes, Southwest Airlines went to infinity and beyond to get it back to him. In a tale that sounds like something straight out of Toy Story.
A young flyer named Hagen was recently traveling with his family to Dallas for a funeral. When they landed he forgot to take his Buzz Lightyear toy with him. Hagen didn’t even realize Buzz was gone until the family was in their rental car. That was too late. Even if they turned back the plane had already departed for Arkansas. Normally that would have been the end of the story. How many of us ever get back items we’ve left on planes? Instead, as we first learned at Bored Panda, that’s when the adventure really began.
A Southwest employee named Jason found Buzz when the plane shut down for the night. And while Buzz knew to remain quiet in the presence of humans, he still provided a major clue to help Jason identify his owner. Hagen clearly learned from Toy Story‘s Andy. Hagen’s name was on the bottom of Buzz’s shoe.
Jason knew someone was missing their friend badly, so he began some investigating to discover who he belonged to. Soon, a name written on the bottom of the boot caught Jason’s eye: pic.twitter.com/xkFuFteKJn
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) March 15, 2021
The plane’s travel logs for the day only listed one Hagen as a passenger. Not long after he lost Buzz, the young boy received a very special package. It was adorned with delightful artwork. Southwest sent Buzz home, along with a note from the famed astronaut recounting his journey for Hagen, as well as some photos of him exploring the airport.
Finally, Hagen and his family received a surprise in the mail, complete with a hand-decorated box and a note from Hagen’s buddy describing his mission. pic.twitter.com/UeLwUJD2ar
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) March 15, 2021
This is the perfect example of going “to infinity and beyond” just to make a child happy. And Hagen certainly was happy when he opened up the package to find his buddy.
His parents recorded his reaction to the incredibly kind gesture.
“There’s definitely not enough good in this world, and for someone to take the time out of their day to do that for strangers means the world to us.” –Ashley, Hagen’s mom. #SouthwestHeart pic.twitter.com/KRPAWyI9vC
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) March 15, 2021
A beloved toy went missing, but found its way back home to its child, in a heartwarming tale. This really was a Toy Story.
