For eight-year-old Dakota and his brother Christian, playing in the park is something they love to do. Even though Dakota was born with down syndrome, his mom says that’s never stopped him.
“From the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed he is go, go, go,” Amanda Holman said. “He is very energetic, very friendly and very caring.”
Late last week while Dakota was playing with his after-school group at Mike Mountain Horse Elementary School, Holman says her son’s backpack was stolen by other kids.
“We looked in garbage cans and the baseball diamonds,” Holman explained. “We’ve had no such luck.”
Inside the backpack were several sensory items to help Dakota get through each day, including a special jacket.
“It has an extra piece for some compression on him which gives him the sensation of someone hugging him,” Holman said. “Dakota has very high sensory needs when it comes to clothing.”
Hoping another parent might know something, Holman took to social media.
“Immediately it was share after share and people commenting and posting and offering all these generous offers,” Holman said. “Just offering to do so much for Dakota, for a stranger and I was a little bit overwhelmed because I wasn’t expecting it.”
So far there’s been no sign of the backpack or its contents. Holman says the hardest part is trying to explain the situation to her son.
“It’s just really sad and I would hope that even if someone made a mistake or thought it was funny and regrets it now that it would just anonymously show up at the school,” Holman explained.
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