Doll Abuse

July 30, 2011 permalink

British mother Victoria Cristofis bought a doll for her daughter. It was so realistic that others criticized her for letting her five-year-old abuse it. Then on a hot day police broke into her car to rescue the doll.

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Police smash their way into car to rescue baby on a hot day... only to discover a DOLL

By Daily Mail Reporter, Last updated at 6:59 PM on 29th July 2011

When police heard reports of a baby trapped in a car, they rushed to rescue it.

And on realising that the only way to get into the car would be to break a window, they quickly did their duty.

But moments later, they were embarrassed to realise that the baby they had gone to such lengths to save was in fact a doll.

Lifelike: Sam the doll is so realistic that police broke into Victoria Cristofis's car (pictured) in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, to get it out

The police caused £200 damage to the car in order to save Sam, a doll so lifelike it even has anatomically correct veins.

Mother-of-three Victoria Cristofis bought the 'Reborn' doll for her daughter Chanel's birthday in June.

But within a month the doll - which looks and even smells almost exactly like a real baby - has caused all manner of confusion in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Ms Cristofis says people have accosted her when shopping and accused her of mistreating a real baby, and petted it as if it was real - even before the police became involved.

Damage: Mrs Cristofis says the police are not the first to confuse this 'Reborn' doll with a real baby. She bought it for her daughter Chanel's birthday in June

LIVING DOLLS

Reborns first started to appear in the early 1990s when toy enthusiasts wanted to create more realistic dolls.

Since then, demand has grown - with some creations fetching in excess of £1,000.

To achieve their lifelike appearance, the doll's skin is painted in multiple layers in a mottled effect and veins are added.

They are weighted similarly to that of real newborns - and the hair and eyelashes are often rooted with mohair.

Some reborns come with a magnetic dummy or even a heartbeat.

While the dolls are sometimes used like a regular toy, they can also serve a more serious purpose: to help a parent grieving the loss of a child or in incidents involving police work.

She said: 'Chanel is absolutely inseparable from this doll, she takes it everywhere and in just a month it's caused all sorts of problems. It's becoming a bit of a celebrity in Worksop.

'I was in the supermarket and Chanel was shaking Sam around, and a woman came up to me practically shouting and asking what sort of mother I was allowing my baby to be ragged about like that.

'I had to explain to her that it wasn't real. She didn't believe me at first then she inspected it and realised it was a doll. We ended up having a laugh about it.

'Sometimes Chanel carries the doll around in a little Moses basket and swings the basket around like kids do. We will be walking down the street and people will look on in horror.

'It is amazing, there's no detail left out. It's not just the way it looks, although it's so realistic it even has veins. When you pick it up it flops a bit just like a real baby, and they even make it smell like a real baby.'

Victoria lives with partner Anastasi and their three children - Paris, seven, five-year-old Chanel and Jayden, two.

The toy does not move of its own accord, like some dolls, although it does have a magnetic dummy.

She added: 'Chanel dropped the doll in the car and it ended up in the footwell. Someone, we don't know who, rang the police and they had to break the rear driver's side window to get it.

'Anastasi wasn't too happy with the state of his car afterwards and was worried the police wouldn't pay for the damage, although eventually they said they would.

'Now we are just laughing about it really, it's a good tale to tell our family and friends. I can't separate Chanel from Sam but I am a bit worried about what's going to happen next. She's only had her a month and already the police have been involved, I'm just wondering what's next.'

Source: Daily Mail