BBC The Repair Shop father and son break down in tears over ‘major repair’ of rocking horse after war-torn backstory
A father and son were left emotional as their rocking horse, which had seen out the Syrian Civil War, was given a stunning restoration by toy experts Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell.
Syrian-born Fayez and his son, Jay, brought a charming but badly damaged felt horse to see what the barn’s experts could do to repair it.
Fayez explained that he had bought the horse with his wife in Syria in 1983 for their sons Imad and Jay after she had “dragged” him to see the “wonderful” toy.
Two years later, Fayez and his family came to the UK as he was “doing mathematics at the University of Manchester” – sadly however, the rocking horse had to stay in Syria.
His son Jay explained that the family would travel back to Syria during school holidays where his beloved grandmother kept careful watch over the toy.
“But then things got a bit rough in Syria,” he began, referencing the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
The war displaced millions of people and destroyed much of the Syria that was, including Fayez’s family flat.
However, when the family could eventually return to country, they were astonished to discover the horse was still in the war-ravaged apartment. Unfortunately, the decade of conflict had left the treasured toy it in a sorry state.
Jay explained that now that his brother had a child and he was expecting one soon, they wanted the horse repaired to: “Link us to those days when everyone was happy in Syria.”
“Now that my mother is now longer with us, he is the extension of my mother’s love,” Fayez added about the beloved toy.
Middleditch and Tatchell were touched by the story but conceded the horse would need a “major repair.” Nevertheless, they promised they would do “their utmost to get this little horse back to working order.”
The horse’s head was hanging off, its formally bushy tail was gone and the rocking mechanism no longer worked properly.
Such was the extensive need of the repair that Middleditch and Tatchell had to enlist the help of fellow expert Pete Woods to help mend the metal frame that had once allowed the horse to rock back and forth.
When Fayez and his son returned to see the results, they came bringing the joyous news that Jay now had a three-week-old son.
“He’s really the reason behind me wanting to get this restored. So I can gift it to him,” Jay explained.
As the revived horse was unveiled, the pair gasped in astonishment and Fayez rushed to embrace and kiss the returned family treasure.
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“This is so special. It’s the original horse come back to us,” Fayez exclaimed before beating his chest with joy.
Thinking back to his mother’s care for the horse, Fayez became emotional. He told the experts: “I could see the smile and the tears on her face. She protected this for years. Even during the war. She wouldn’t leave from one house to the other without taking the horse. Thank you is not enough, really.”
Jay was almost lost for words throughout the reveal, simply stating how amazing it was to see the horse rocking again.
“It’s just unbelievable to get back as it was in the original form. Wow,” Fayez glowed before turning to Jay and adding “I’ll make sure a video of the new horse with your son on it goes back to Syria, to the roots family, so they can see it and enjoy it.”
True to their word, viewers were treated to an adorable video of Jay rocking his new baby boy on the resurrected horse at the end of the show.