A Belfast mum is pleading with people who have been to Antrim Castle recently to give her autistic son a Christmas miracle and reunite him with his lost teddy bear.
Rose Neill's eight-year-old son Riley lost his much-loved bear while visiting the castle grounds on Friday evening.
"We went to Antrim Castle on Friday at about 6pm and he had his bear with him," she told Belfast Live.
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"Then when we were walking past the bubble machine, because he's autistic, he got very excited with the bubbles and started clapping.
"It has flew out of his hands but I didn't notice until we were out of the place.
"We went back and were checking and couldn't see anything as it was quite dark and we went to the office but it hadn't been handed in."
Rose said Riley has had the bear for years and that it is one of his most cherished possessions.
"He has a real special connection with this wee bear," she added.
"He's worried that people are hurting Teddy or trodding on him, which is killing me.
"He's just such a lovely wee child, such a loving wee boy and this bear means the absolute world to him. He sleeps with the bear and he's finding it very hard to sleep without it, he's had it for years.
"Any wee child with autism, their possessions are very personal to them and it's nearly worse for them when they lose something like that."
Rose said she hoped she could get the word out to enough people that someone might recognise the lost teddy and get it back to Riley.
"What I'm hoping is that some child has found it and their parents have let them take it home.
"And I hope they maybe see this appeal on Belfast Live and then return it even to the castle or contact me so I can get him back.
"It would make Riley's Christmas, his whole year.
"So I'm just really hoping we can get his wee bear back to him."
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