DALLAS — Updated at 6:27 p.m. with quotes from Hagen's family.
The words "You've got a friend in me" have never been more true for a young Southwest Airlines passenger who was reunited with his buddy Buzz Lightyear.
Hagen and his family had landed at Dallas Love Field Airport and made it to their rental car before they realized Buzz Lightyear was left behind on the plane.
By the time Hagen's family noticed his special buddy was missing, the plane and Buzz Lightyear were already on their way to their next adventure.
"He was asking, 'Where's Buzz? Where's Buzz?' and we realized we didn't have Buzz with us" Hagen's mother Ashley said.
The plane made its way to its final destination of the night, which was Little Rock, Arkansas and that's when a Southwest ramp agent named Jason noticed the toy Space Ranger superhero was still onboard.
Jason got to work investigating who the action figure belonged to. That's when he noticed the name "Hagen" on the bottom of Buzz Lightyear's boot.
The ramp agent learned there was only one Hagen who had traveled with the airline that day so he made it his mission to reunite the two buddies. A few days later, Hagen received a special surprise in the mail.
Not only had Buzz Lightyear returned from this adventure but he also arrived in a hand-decorated box with a letter describing his mission at Southwest Airlines.
"My journey has taught me a lot but I am so thankful to return to my buddy!" the letter partially reads.
"There’s definitely not enough good in this world, and for someone to take the time out of their day to do that for strangers means the world to us," said Hagen's mother, Ashley.
The family was in Dallas for a funeral while Ashley was nine months pregnant with Hagen's little sister. She goes on maternity leave on Friday.
"So it's been a lot today," she said. '[Jason] spent the money to send us the box. He took the pictures. He wrote the letter that was included. To have somebody almost across the country from us do all of that was absolutely amazing."
Ashley said Jason's act of kindness made her emotional.
"I have just been bawling my eyes out with the feels and the love. At this day and age where we're kind of at right now in our nation, it's really amazing to know there are people out there who will still do good," she said.
Southwest shared a video on Facebook showing Hagen's reaction during the happy reunion. He was all smiles as took his buddy out of the box.
People shared their enthusiasm with Hagen's family with more than 3,000 comments on the Facebook post. Below are some of the joyful words the community shared:
"Wow!!! That child will remember that kindness for the rest of his life."
"Southwest Airlines you guys nailed it. Congrats to everyone. Mission Accomplished!!"
"Awww it’s like a Toy Story sequel! Great job SWA."
Thanks to Southwest Airlines, Hagen and Buzz Lightyear can continue future adventures of traveling together!
