A seven-year-old boy is recovering from the emotional trauma of leaving his dead father's keepsake on a plane and the relief of having it pulled from the garbage and returned to him by determined airline staff.
Cole Holzer from Casselton, North Dakota, boarded a Delta flight to California with his mother and sisters clutching onto the grey Nike shirt his father was wearing the night he tragically fell to his death while hanging Christmas lights.
Inseparable from the shirt since the unspeakable freak accident, Cole was distressed to realise he had left it on his seat as the family drove away from the airport in San Diego.
Relief: Seven-year-old Cole Holzer, inseparable from the shirt that his father wore the night he died, was horrified to discover he had left it on a plane on his way to San Diego with his mother and sisters
Familiar: Cole smells the grey Nike shirt belonging to his father after Delta airlines staff found it in the trash and returned it to him
Cole's mother, Tonya Holzer, told ABC: 'We're driving on the interstate and I'm trying not to crash or anything and of a sudden he starts screaming "I lost it, I can't find it, I can't find it."'
Recalling the scary moment he thought his father's shirt was gone forever, a quiet and withdrawn Cole admitted: I started to cry a little bit.'
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Mrs Holzer, told ABC that since the night of the accident, Cole has taken the shirt everywhere as a memento of his beloved dad.
Describing the heartbreaking evening she said: 'Cole for some reason, this shirt... he was four years old and we were out in the car and he says to me "I'm not going until I get dad's shirt". And so I went back up and grabbed the shirt for him.'
Tragic: Bryan Holzer (pictured) plummeted to his death two years ago while hanging Christmas lights
Family: Tonya Holzer, Cole's mother (pictured with her children) recalled how the night of her husband's death, Cole refused to leave the hospital without the shirt
'Ever since he will lay out and spray his dad's cologne on it and cuddle up with it and sing the daddy song to go to bed,' she added.
Realising the dilemma, family friend Kelly Crutchet jumped to action while Mrs Holzer tried to console her son.
'I started by calling the Delta 800 number,' Ms Crutchet explained. 'I tried to keep my composure; I'm a pretty emotional person. I cried on the phone to the first person, she cried back.'
In a letter obtained by ABC News, written from Ms Crutchet to Delta details just how responsive the airline was. In it she wrote: 'I want to thank all involved today for what they did for this little boy they had never met - as a friend stated, '"Delta allowed a daddy to still be there for his little boy"... even if he can't be with him on earth.
Devoted: After Cole realised he had left the shirt on the plane while the family drove away from the airport, friend Kelly Crutchet (right) began calling Delta staff while mother, Tonya (left) consoled her son
Determined: A gushing letter from Ms Crutchet to Delta tells how the staff went above and beyond to help locate the shirt that had been thrown into the trash as the plane took off for its next flight to Minneapolis
'You all went so far above and beyond and the statement I made to Vicki goes to all of you: YOU ARE MY FAVORITE PEOPLE I HAVE NEVER MET!'
Ms Crutchet told ABC how staff on the ground in San Diego began their search by asking the cleaning crew if they had seen the shirt. In the meantime, the loyal friend took to Facebook and email asking anyone who could help to contact her.
A Delta pilot, Mike McLean, saw the appeal and said he would also try and contact the Delta ground team at the gate in Minneapolis where the flight was now heading.
In the meantime, Ms Crutchet was told that Delta staff were looking through the rubbish bins from the flight, an endeavour that proved successful.
Remains: Cole admitted he cried 'a little' when he noticed the shirt was missing from the car as the family sped away from the airport in San Diego
Memories: Tonya Holzer said that in retrieving and returning the shirt to Cole, Delta 'gave a piece of his dad back to him'
On a call shortly after, she was told: '"Kelly we've found it, we've got it." I cried some more!'
The tears didn't stop with Ms Crutchet. Mrs Holzer admitted before breaking into relieved laughter: 'I start crying, Cole starts crying...'
The only one not able to laugh yet? Cole. 'I was really happy because I liked it so much,' mumbled the shell-shocked boy while twisting the shirt around his hands.
'They gave a piece of his dad back to him,' his mother said.