An extremely long waiting list means that
I am not currently able to accept new patients
at Sasha's Teddy Bear Hospital.
I hope to resume admissions in December 2024.

Below are the case stories of some of the patients I treated earlier.
You can find many more in the News section and the News Archive.

Bruno (June-July 2021)

Bruno is probably over 100 years old, and his present owner has had him since birth. He was much loved (not least by a dog))), but because of his age he was no longer in a great shape when I first saw him. It took me a while to get Bruno back into shape. When he was reunited with his owner, her first words were: It's him! This is how I remember him! This was the highest praise I could have hoped for, because my main aim is always to restore the Teddy, not change him!

Kyrill (December 2017 - January 2018)

In December 2017, a very special Teddy came from Germany to be treated at Sasha's Teddy Bear Hospital. His name was Kyrill, and he was rather old. He had come into his lady owner's life in November 1941. Originally from Russia, Kyrill lived all his life in Germany and was very well loved. I was very pleased to have him as a patient at my hospital, and he appeared to be pleased too))

Kyrill's treatment took some time, but it was worth it, and in the end he could look at the world with new eyes))

Upon his return, Kyrill's adoptive mother said:

"How wonderful!!! Kyrill arrived in best condition and he looks so nice and perfectly healed!
I love the collar on his neck, it is very very chic and fits beautifully to his appearance.
"...Thank you very very much for the wonderful work you did, you made me really very happy."

Panda (August 2021)

This panda (called Panda) has been one of our most challenging patients.

Quite old, he arrived literally in pieces, and had to undergo serious reconstructive surgery. I was really impressed by Panda's owner, who had kept - and sent to me - most of the bits and even the stuffing. I used new felt as "lining" for Panda's head and body, and sewed on top of it all the pieces I had, plus some matching new ones. The latter had to be aged artificially to look like the original. In the end, the patient was well enough to enjoy a bit of sunshine in the garden before travelling back home.

"That's incredible! I've never seen him in better shape," wrote Panda's owner when I sent him the first post-op photo of the patient. Once the last detail - the mouth - was added, the owner's verdict was: "That's exactly how he was!"

Marty (December 2023)

72-year-old Marty came to me in desperate need of help.

His most pressing problem was that, some time before his arrival, Marty had parted company with his head. At least the head was still around, which was more than could be said about his eyes and nose - these had really gone AWOL. Once I have dealt with these major deficiencies, I was also able to treat some of Marty's smaller injuries and ailments. Whole again, Marty inspected himself critically in the mirror.

He pronounced himself happy with the results, and his owner too was quite pleased to see Marty back to his former self.

Richard Lion (March-April 2023)

One day I received a request to re-create someone's favourite childhood toy - Richard Lion, a 1950s Merrythought character from a children's comic.

The owner played with his lion a lot when he was a boy, and even made him new clothes with the help of his mother. Alas, the lion was misplaced at some point. Then, years later, the owner started thinking of him again after watching Repair Shop. Examples of Richard Lion are very rare, but he did find one, in a pretty poor condition. He then emailed and asked me to re-create the Richard Lion that he remembered from his childhood. The task, however, involved not only repairing the lion himself.

I also had to give him the same clothes as those made for the earlier Richard Lion: a corduroy suit worn over pale yellow underwear - the trousers and the underpants with a special hole for the tail - and a felt cap.

Fortunately, the owner had excellent memory, and his drawings and instructions were most precise and clear, so I knew exactly what I was aiming at. The owner even sent me the fabric for the suit.

After the job was completed and a reborn Richard Lion made his way back to Yorkshire, I received a most pleasing email: "Richard Lion has arrived, and he's great. Thank you so much, it's really appreciated. You've done an excellent job."

Garfield (June 2022)

This 40-year-old patient, who lives in Panama, suffered life-threatening injuries - unsurprisingly, in a scrap with a dog (no, it wasn't Odie). The damage to his face was so extensive that we had to find a donor and perform what may well be the world's first combined eyes, nose and teeth transplant. This worked a treat, and Garfield's loving owner was over the moon when he came to collect him.

Toffie (January 2024)
70-something Toffie arrived in Hospital heavily disguised, wearing an elaborate face mask, and a onesie covering his whole body. When I removed the disguise, the reason for it became clear: the poor chap's face was terribly disfigured, he had wounds in chest, tummy and limbs, and his skin was largely see-through.

The situation called for drastic measures. So, all his stuffing was removed, he was given a good wash and left out to dry. Next, a painstaking restoration process began.

In the end, I was quite pleased with Toffie's appearance, and his owner agreed, saying he now looked just as she remembered him from years ago.

   

Ted (September 2021)

In the course of his long life, Ted had been patched up and repaired many times. At some point, he had had his head sewn back on the wrong way round. As he had also lost his eyes, he probably was not even aware that he was facing backwards)) After treatment at Sasha's Teddy Bear Hospital, Ted felt better than ever and clearly looked forward (in more ways than one) to being passed on to the next generation in its current owner's family.

Another Ted (February 2018)

Made of real sheep skin, Ted was quite poorly when he arrived at Sasha's Teddy Bear Hospital but I am happy to report that he made a full recovery and has now rejoined his family. I tried to use as much of the original sheep skin as possible but some new bits had to be added to complete the job. Despite being more than 50 years old, Ted was very fortunate to have retained his original eyes - and I believe he now looks at the world through them in much better spirits!

"South African" Ted (June 2022)

At the beginning of 2022, I was contacted by a nice lady in South Africa, who asked if my hospital admitted patients from abroad. When reassured that we did not discriminate against them, she sent 72-year-old Ted on his way.

Ted actually started life in the UK, and only relocated to South Africa with his family in 1970. It was on that journey that he sustained a lot of damage and nearly drowned. Even though he was resuscitated and went on to live abroad for over 50 years, he was badly in need of proper treatment for his injuries.

Other patients and my helpers at the hospital watched with some trepidation as Ted emerged from his box on arrival. He did indeed look rather in a bad way, missing an eye and part of his head and paw.

However, Ted showed that he had the inner strength and was determined to get better soon - and so it proved! Surgery took a long time, but he made a full recovery and was ready for a long journey back to his family.

Yarry (February 2023)

57-year-old Yarry arrived in Hospital with an obvious neck injury and some unsightly holes in his limbs. His nose and smile were also in need of some attention. Made by his adoring owner's grandmother, he had been with her since birth, and she would run into a burning building to save him. She vividly remembered from years ago that Yarry once looked quite different - in her mind's eye, he was red and orangey. When I unstitched Yarry's green-and-black top and brown leather trousers, it became clear that she was right - he had different clothes under the later addition!

Alas, his original orange shirt and red pants were beyond repair, so I had to think of sonmething else to make him look like he used to. A day trip to Abingdon, with its amazing Mason's Fabric Shop and no less wonderful charity shops, provided a solution. The fabrics I found there were a perfect match for Yarry's old clothes. And so, having brought Yarry back to health, I set about making him new trousers and shirt. I also added a little fetching removable collar. When my work was finished, the owner told me she was completely overcome with emotions upon seeing her beloved Yarry just as she remembered him.

Eeyore (March 2022)

Eeyore, a Merrythought pensioner, arrived in hospital from Lancashire.

His precise age is unknown: he had been passed down to his present owner and had been in her care for 63 years. Over the years, he had become so worn that he was kept in a plastic bag so as to not lose any more of his sawdust stuffing. His badly damaged legs were bandaged. After treatment, Eyore is now able to stand once again, and he is liberated from life inside a plastic bag.

"It made me cry when I saw him after his 'makeover', he now has a new lease of life. Thankyou Sasha, you did a wonderful job," his owner wrote to me when Eeyore arrived back home again.


Anonymous (January 2021)

The first patient discharged from my Teddy Bear Hospital at the start of 2021, who will remain anonymous, was a much loved and very nice Teddy of a certain age (probably about 60).

He was admitted a couple of weeks earlier because he had lost his voice! My first task, therefore, was to give him his voice back. After he was admitted, a further ailment was discovered: a very sore left foot. This too given all due attention, and the Teddy eventually had the entire sole replaced. The process involved 'ageing' the patch so that it would not look out of place on a 60-year-old.

The Teddy has now been reuinted with his owner, who was very pleased to see him - and hear him too!

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