The tale of a dinosaur reunion at the Victoria International Airport has taken the world by storm.
In June, Black Press Media reported on a heartwarming video posted by local mom, Tabitha Cooper. Cooper’s two young boys, Owen and Ethan, were dressed in inflatable dinosaur costumes in an attempt to surprise their grandma as they picked her up at the arrival gates. Two years before, grandma had done the same thing for them when they visited her in Toronto.
But the pranksters turned into the pranked in Victoria; Grandma had packed her own costume as her carry-on item, and had airport staff assist her in getting the costume on once she arrived.
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The hilarious reaction from the boys was a dino-dancing reunion, which was well-received at the time on Facebook.
But, thanks to the mysterious algorithms of the internet, the reunion saw a world-wide revamp around Christmas time, and soon the video went viral.
“It has gone insane, I don’t know what happened or how,” Cooper said. “I had 15 friend requests a day, and people in China and Australia were messaging me.”
The 40-second video was shown on media outlets across the world, reportedly including the BBC, and racked up tens of thousands of views on social media channels.
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Cooper said that she isn’t technically savvy, and hadn’t thought to license the video when she posted it, so it’s not something she’s made any money off of.
“It’s too bad, but I had no idea that it would ever go viral,” she said. “But it’s okay, I’m just glad people are enjoying it.”
For her eight-year-old son, Ethan, the experience has been great.
“It’s been fun; we’ve been on the news a lot and we were on the radio,” he said. “My friends did not believe me but then the principal actually came in and said congratulations for being on the news.”
Cooper said that the popularity of the video has only upped the ante for the next time grandma visits, though the boys have yet to iron out their next plans.
“There will be dinosaurs in the future,” she said. “I’m not sure it will be as popular, but it will definitely be fun.”
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