A little girl from East Yorkshire was left bereft when her new purse, filled with her Christmas money, birthday cash and savings from chores and the tooth fairy, was taken during a post-Christmas shopping trip.
Isabella Davis, six, was with members of her family on a sales spree in Princes Quay, Hull, when she accidentally left her bag on the hook behind a cubicle door in the toilets. It contained a new [Lilo and] Stitch purse with £85 inside.
When the family, who live east of Hull, realised the bag was missing soon afterwards, mum Samantha Davis quickly retraced their steps to the toilets but the bag had gone. She said: “I rang security and the guy said someone had handed it to a cleaner and it had just been brought in.
“I hoped beyond hope that it would all be there. I opened the bag and the purse was gone. All that was left inside was a Refreshers lip balm.
“It was so obviously a child’s – the bag is a little pink cat bag and the Stitch purse had a letter B on it, for Bella. There was no way you could think any other and, so close to Christmas, you’d know it was a child’s Christmas money.”
Isabella Davis’s purse was a Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) design, similar to this but with a letter B on it for Bella
(Image: Samantha Davis)
Samantha said the money itself was “completely irrelevant” – she and husband Joe Davis gave Isabella some more money to spend – but it was more the act of destroying her daughter’s unswerving belief in everyone and everything. “She is just beautiful to everybody.
“She’s my six-year-old little rainbow on legs, and she was really upset about what happened. Her oldest sister Evelyn was with us in town and helped to comfort Bella, but it made her sad all the rest of that day and I was really mad about that.”
Samantha said Isabella got out of bed the same night and told her mum she could not breathe properly and her tummy did not feel right. “She had tears in her eyes, she thought robbers were going to come.
“What makes it worse in a way is the culprit is a female, as it was in the ladies’ toilets. I can’t believe this was someone who was really struggling for money, otherwise what would they be doing in Princes Quay a couple of days after Christmas?”
Samantha reported the theft online via the police 101 system. “When they called me back they said they were really sad and really sorry but unfortunately they wouldn’t be able to do anything as there was no CCTV and no way of detecting who had been in the bag.”
Samantha posted on Facebook about the incident, hoping the person responsible would “have a conscience”. “I think my daughter deserves an apology, even anonymously,” she said.
What the family did not bargain for was the public response and outpouring of goodwill. “Although the culprit has not come forward, the people of Hull and the surrounding villages have come together and sent so much more than the amount stolen, in an effort to restore my daughter’s faith in mankind.
“It’s our own Christmas miracle. Some of the people that have rallied round are complete strangers so I just want to say thank you to them all – and so does my daughter – and I want the world to see that Hull is a place filled with some truly kind people. We feel like we’re in a Christmas movie.”
Samantha wanted a particular shout-out for Lisa and Lynsey of the Ship Inn, Keyingham, who launched a fundraiser. “Donations have been made by Timy’s ice cream, Shandu’s village store, The Ravenser, Keyingham Service Station, the Nags Head in Preston, various villagers and some compete strangers.
“People were approaching me out of the blue asking if I minded them having my bank details because they wanted to transfer some money to replace what Bella lost. It’s gone from her £85 and a bit of change to £350, and it’s absolutely amazing, it’s been overwhelming.
“I just want people to be recognised for what they have done and to say a huge thank you. And I want Bella to grow up with all that heart she has now; this has reaffirmed to her how there are so many more good people out there compared to the bad.”
Isabella has herself written an open letter to all her well-wishers. In her exact words, it said: “Dear evryone, I felt really upset that someone stole my saving up money. But now lots of peaple have been very nice and thoutfull and cared about wat happend. Thank you evryone from Isabella Rose Davis”.
Asked what Isabella might do with the donations – “her little eyes popped out of her head, she’s never heard of that much money” – her mum said she would be opening a bank account for her with it, “otherwise the house will be full of stuffed unicorns before I can blink”.
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