Delta Employees Reunite Boy With Treasured Shirt

When a 7-year-old lost the thing he treasures most in the world, Delta employees went above and beyond – even searching in the trash – to get it back to him.

ABC News in Fargo, North Dakota, broke the story of Cole Holzer and his treasured T-shirt. The shirt wasn’t just an expensive gift or a favorite thing for the young boy to wear, but actually an article of clothing his father had been wearing when he tragically passed away following a freak accident while he was putting up Christmas lights.

As Tonya Holzer, the boy’s mother, explained: three years ago her son was inconsolable at the hospital after his father’s death, and said he wouldn’t leave until he had the Nike T-shirt in hand. So Tonya went in and retrieved the shirt, and it’s been Cole’s security blanket ever since. That is, until it was forgotten during the rush to leave the plane on a flight to California.

In the car, Cole realized the shirt was gone and became hysterical. Not knowing where to start, Tonya called Delta’s 1-800 number. By the end of the conversation, both the mother and the customer service agent were crying. From ground crew to ticket agents, Delta employees began searching for the worn T-shirt, which they called “the daddy shirt.”

Eventually, the Holzer family got a call from Delta assuring them what once was lost was now found. “Efforts made to reunite this very special shirt with Cole and his family is another fantastic example of Delta people going above and beyond for our customers,” a Delta representative told the news outlet.