BC Couple Uncovers Wall Filled With Stuffies, Turns It Into a Good-Deed Opportunity

Stuffed animals found behind the wall of a British Columbia house in October 2024. Courtesy of Connor Nijsse

After uncovering a hidden stash of more than 100 stuffed animals behind their wall, a British Columbia couple is giving these plush relics a new life—sending them to childhood nostalgists and collectors around the world.

While removing drywall in his Vancouver Island garage, woodworker Connor Nijsse found dozens of stuffed animals packed into the wall as insulation. Curious, he continued tearing down the wall as his wife filmed, revealing even more plush toys. Their video, shared on social media on Oct. 27, quickly went viral.

The soft toys range from teddy bears to lions, chicks, bunnies, and more.

“[We] can’t believe these were all in the walls,” Nijsse said in a video posted two days later showing close-ups of the stuffed animals neatly arranged on a table. “Recognize any from your childhood?”

The video received hundreds of comments, with several viewers identifying some of the stuffed animals and sharing their childhood memories, and others offering to buy them.

Stuffed animals found by British Columbia resident Connor Nijsse behind a wall in his home in October 2024. Courtesy of Connor Nijsse

“I had that pink doodle bear in the top right corner when I was a kid. I remember my mom got one for my birthday when I was like 7 or 8,” commented one of the viewers.

“My heart is aching. I used to have the cat with the plastic face and the kittens that came out of the velcro belly! Wish I could find one these days,” wrote another.

One emotional comment prompted the couple to consider shipping the plushies. A viewer from Guelph, Ont., shared that as a child, she had patched up her yellow duck stuffed animal with bandages as it had lost its fluff—only to find one day that her mother had thrown it away without telling her.

“First one sent to Guelph to make a kid happy,” Nijsse said in a video showing his trip to the post office.

Roughly a week later, the viewer posted a video unboxing a pair of duck plushies. “This is gonna be emotional, I didn’t expect this to be so emotional,” she said. At the end of the video, her two daughters appear hugging the stuffed animals.

In his latest video, posted Nov. 6, Nijsse showed some of the most recent shipments. One of them was a brown bear bound for Indiana for a viewer who had the same toy as a child. Another was a pink elephant for a Las Vegas resident who collects pink elephant plushies. Nijsse sent two stuffed chicks to a viewer in the UK.

The last package posted was a bear with pink paws and blue eyes, sent to a South Carolina resident. She had the same toy as a child and it had sentimental value to her, but she lost it during a move a few years ago.

“That was my bear since birth,” she wrote in the comment.