Leave beacon of hope for those in need
LAST week, we brought you the sorry sight of the Pieta House teddy bear placed on Dominick’s bridge having been vandalised, and this week, teddy number two has already had to be replaced due to it being tampered with.
But the man behind the idea says they will not be deterred, and volunteers will continue to place them there as a beacon of hope and light in people’s darkest hours.
“We have decided to keep putting them up, and hopefully whoever is doing it might realise that it is not good to vandalise it, or maybe one of their mates might say it to them,” says Wexford man Mick Ryan, whose idea it was to place the bears. “I started with the first one in Carlow and Wexford, and I thought it would be the council that took them down, but no, and I also know that for every ten I put up, four might be vandalised, but one might save a life.”
Each teddy is fitted with a solar light, that shines for six or seven hours. “It shines on a sign that says ‘Your family loves you’ and a text number to Pieta House if you are feeling low,” he adds. “If someone is walking the river, and sees the light, it might stop and make them think of their own children or of their childhood.”
Debbie Ward and Paula Holland placed the teddy in Drogheda with the help of Drogheda River Rescue, and they plan to put more along the full length to Slane.
To talk to someone, text HELP to 51444 or call Pieta House free on 1800 247247.