There is nothing better than going on holiday with your best friend, but what happens when you lose that friend on an island in the middle of the sea?

Seven-year-old Cole Bruce has been best buddies with his teddy bear Jude since he was two weeks old, and was devastated when the bear suddenly vanished during a family holiday on the Isle of Arran.

The family from Newton Mearns were staying at the Auchrannie resort on the island for a last minute October break, where Cole's mother Kathleen says they hadn't been since their son was a toddler.

She and her husband Darren had hoped to redo the holiday that Cole had forgotten, only to have his experience "marred" by the loss of his friend.

"I think we dropped him when we were taking the luggage out of the car," Kathleen says. "We were asking everyone if they'd seen a teddy, but he was nowhere to be found.

"We also thought we might have dropped him on the ferry, because that's the last picture we got of the two of them together.

"It's the same picture that we took of him when he was just two-years-old, so it was pretty special."

When he realised his best friend was gone, Cole cried himself to sleep. Although he was enjoying his holiday, every couple of minutes he would remember the missing member of the family, and say "I just want Jude back. I'm never going to see him again - he's gone forever."

His parents had already begun looking for a replacement for the bear, only to find that Jude's make had been discontinued.

After spending the entire trip searching for the missing toy, his desperate mother Kathleen decided to take one last chance and post a picture of Jude on Facebook in a final attempt to find him.

"It was the talk of the school gates," she says. "Everyone kept saying 'Have you found the bear? We've seen him all over Facebook!' - it was crazy!"

After almost 3000 shares, an employee at the resort got in touch with Kathleen with an important announcement - a bear matching Jude's description had been found.

"At first I thought it was silly setting the post to public on Facebook," Kathleen says. "But after all that, the power of Facebook is actually bringing him home.

"I contacted the hotel to see if they'd actually found the bear because I didn't want Cole getting too excited.

"They said Jude was sitting on a container in the hotel - we couldn't believe it!"

After nearly a week apart, the resort has confirmed that Jude is now making a special journey home to his friend and is expected to ride the ferry across to the mainland.

"We're getting it specially delivered, so we're patiently waiting and hope it'll be here today," says Kathleen.

"I'm just absolutely overwhelmed with all the help we got - Cole is so excited to see Jude again."