New toy horse for distraught Thomas

Autistic Thomas Kidd, 13, was disraught when ‘Horsey’ went missing.

The boy and his toy were inseparable.

A n appeal sparked an international search to countries including Australia, the USA and Canada.

But a woman in Oxford has come up with what could be a replacement – an exact copy – until Horsey can hopefully be found and returned to Lancashire.

Horsey disappeared at Manchester Airport earlier this month when Thomas was waiting with his family to catch a flight to Basel in Switzerland.

The flight was delayed by 90 minutes, causing Thomas to become distressed.

Thomas’ mother Anne posted images of Horsey, described as pale blue, with strings coming from his head and a soft body, on social media and was absolutely inundated with offers of help and advice.

People both unknown and known sent in loving, thoughtful messages and even gifts and cards.

And there was an offer of £500 for replacement.

After poor Thomas, who attends Mayfield School, Chorley, rejected a Horsey 2, the third from Tam Miall in Oxford, seems to be doing the trick for now.

A relieved Anne said; “Horsey came on Friday. We put it in bed with him on Saturday night.

“I was up at twelve and two and he had Horsey under his head and later on had his arm round him.

“At last he’s got something to replace his Horsey.”

Housewife Anne and GP Rory, both 47, have three other children - Jacob, 14, Charlotte, 10 and Martha, six.

Anne said: “I was just blown away with the messages of support.”

She hopes the new Horsey will be fully adopted by Thomas: “I think you can’t take away this thing which was an extension of his arm for 13 years and expect just to replace it. It’s a positive to have this new Horsey, it’s absolutely amazing.”

She said she could not thank Tam enough, adding: “I believe she’s had a lot of messages from other people saying how blown away they are and how kind she is.”

Meanwhile, the search for the real Horsey continues and staff at Manchester Airport are going through their CCTV.