A little girl is thanking a Massachusetts State Police trooper for the heartwarming rescue of her friend - a polar bear named "Polar Bear," or "Poddy" for short.
Four-year-old Emma Devarix brings Poddy everywhere, including on her family trip to see Christmas lights.
"Both my daughters were in the back seat of the car, and they said that they were hot, so I out the windows down, and I looked behind and I saw them kind of throwing around their lovies," said Emma's mother, Beth Devarix. "I said, 'Be careful, you're going to lose him.'"
And you can probably guess what happened next.
"She said, 'Poddy! I lost Poddy, he went out the window!'" Beth Devarix said.
With the bear now on I-495 in Milford, Devarix panicked and called the state police.
To her surprise, they sent the closest trooper, who rescued the stuffed bear.
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"She was so excited, and I think she had the death grip on him for the rest of the night," she said.
Emma Devarix sent her hero, trooper Dan Mather, a thank you card - a move Mather says made it all worth it.
"The fact that he had kids, too, helped," said Beth Devarix.
Mather works out of the Milbury barracks. This will likely be a story that will follow him throughout his career - and one that Emma Evarix will never forget.
