Aug 26, 2023

Her toy story had a happy ending. A pilot flew an American Girl doll 5,880 miles from Tokyo to Texas – to reunite her with a 9-year-old child who had lost her. American Airlines’ James Danen first discovered Valentina Dominguez’s lost doll through her parents’ Facebook post, according to WFAA-TV. Rudy and Celeste Dominguez had last seen the doll on their plane in Tokyo, where the family had stopped over on their way home to Plano, Texas from a trip to Bali, Indonesia. Danen, who is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, contacted Turkish Airlines’ lost and found department at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and located the missing toy. He then traveled with the doll named Beatrice and even took photos of her along their journey, which he sent to Valentina. “That’s my nature. I love helping people… that’s exactly what I love doing,” Danen told the outlet. “I was really happy to be able to do something nice for someone.” The 9-year-old had left her American Girl doll on a plane in Tokyo, returning from a vacation in Bali. YouTube/WFAA YouTube/WFAA YouTube/WFAA On August 21, three weeks after the toy went missing, the pilot – who lives a few miles from the Dominguez family – drove the doll to their house and delivered it to Valentina. “Did she behave well during the flight?” asked the girl. “Very well-behaved, yes,” he replied. He also gave her Japanese sweets and a map of all the places Beatrice had been. Valentina said her doll “brings me happiness” and is her best friend. YouTube/WFAA Valentina’s father said Danen’s gesture is “another sign that there is a lot of kindness in this world.” YouTube/WFAA “(Béatrice) means a lot to me. She brings me happiness and she’s my best friend,” Valentina told ‘Good Morning America.’ felt like my heart was broken. His father Rudy was grateful for Danen’s epic stature. “I think that’s another sign that there’s a lot of kindness in this world,” he told ‘GMA’. “I’m really happy that Jim was able to help us and I’m grateful to him.” New York Post Not all news on the site expresses the point of view of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor.