Vancouver ‘teddy bear doctor’ restores old stuffies | CBC News
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From pet attacks, to missing parts, to just too much loving, there’s almost no teddy bear Ruth Hasman can’t fix.
She is a seamstress who has dedicated her retirement to repairing old and broken stuffed animals.
Over almost two decades, she imagines she has repaired thousands of stuffed toys from across North America.
“I never know what’s going to be coming through the door,” Hasman said.
Stuffed toy parts, buttons, eyes and fur line the surfaces and walls of her Vancouver, B.C., home.
From pet attacks, to missing parts, to just too much loving, there’s almost no teddy bear Ruth Hasman can’t fix. She runs a hospital and spa for stuffed toys out of her Vancouver home.
Fur grafts, eyeball replacements, stuffing replenishments and spa treatments are just some of the services she offers.
And she goes above and beyond for her clients, sometimes scouring dozens of thrift stores to find the right fabric.
If she isn’t satisfied with how a bear has come together? She will take it apart and re-do it.
Hasman says no bear is the same, so each toy is a new challenge.
“I learn something new almost every time I fix one,” she said.
But her favourite part is learning the stories behind the toys, noting that some are very sentimental.
“It’s a pleasure talking to the people, finding out the history of the bears,” said Hasman.
“There’s a lot of poignant stories.”
The oldest bear she has repaired was 115 years old, passed on through five generations in a family.
Vedrana Petrovic, a recent client of Hasman’s, says her plush golden retriever from IKEA, Sylvester, looks almost like the day she got him a decade ago.
“I thought he was irreparable… I’m honestly shocked,” said Petrovic.
Petrovic said she got Sylvester during university when she was in need of emotional support.
Petrovic described him as looking like a piece of spaghetti prior to his visit to the teddy bear hospital.
“He was completely deflated, half his body was flopped over,” she said.
She said he has been a great cuddle buddy, and hopes he will continue to be for decades to come.
“He’s been a near and dear companion to me,” said Petrovic.
Hasman says she has a counterpart in Maple Ridge that she is currently training, and hopes can take over her business when she is too old to continue.
But she says until then, she will continue fixing bears as long as possible.
“It’s the stories behind these bears… it just pulls my heart.”