He's a small brown bear, forgivably scruffy, who offers comfort and reassurance – he listens to inner-most secrets and fears, shares adventures, is a great cuddle and is consumed by wanderlust.
Yep, he gets around – in fact bear has probably seen more of New Zealand than a lot New Zealanders.
His name is Hero – hero more by name than nature. Hero is a soft toy, a Pommy immigrant, who for two years has been travelling the country and bunking down with type 1 diabetes kids. From Wellington to Whangamomona, from Stratford to Hawea and Alexandra, from Auckland to Blenheim and many points in between.
At the moment Hero is holed up with Ezra Fendley in a cul-de-sac in Gate Pa.
'Hero tells me I am not the only person in the world coping with T1 diabetes, there are heaps,” says Ezra. It makes him feel better that there are many people around the world who understand what he's going through. So he is resigned and comfortable with his Type 1 and Hero has helped.
'It will never go away, there is no cure,” says Ezra. 'I am ok with that –it's just something I have to do.”
Hero arrived from England in December 2015 – he was sent by a Donna Hall and ‘The Insulin Gang' – her kids, Cerys and Alena. Cerys is T1.
'Hero is one of the gang's special travelling bears, one of many travelling the world,” says Donna. 'Their purpose is to spend time with children who have type 1. And the only catch is the host family has to document the travels and adventures after each visit.”
So Hero's New Zealand diary tells us he has made friends with an old dog called Roscoe, has ridden a motorbike, been go-karting, has endured a Central Otago frost, has fed calves, got himself a Whangamomona passport, been to museums and daycares, seen geysers and Lake Taupo, seen lambs, patted lambs and fed lambs.
He's also been to Dunedin where it was minus seven degrees, eaten beneath the golden arches, been to taekwondo, seen a traction engine, been to a swimming pool, shopping and had his photo taken with Santa.
And that was all before Ezra and mum Lena took him on a road trip around the North Island, including a tour of the Tui brewery at Mangatainoka. Something different. And Hero's been to Maungatainoka when most Kiwis don't even know where it is.
Sometime soon Hero will move on. Not sure where, not sure when. But his work isn't done yet. He will be snuggling up to another kid living with T1. Having new adventures, writing up his diary.
At risk of minimising Ezra's hardship, Lena says some good things have come of it.
'For example, the family is eating much healthier,” says Lena. 'It has made us aware about food, about how much sugar is in food. Probably something we should all be aware with the rates of obesity.”
And when Ezra was diagnosed nearly three years ago, the family had to learn a lot in a short time. ”They won't let you leave the hospital until they are confident you can manage the condition.”
Ezra's home but the learning hasn't stopped. Lena is a year into a Bachelor of Community Health degree.
'Nothing's too hard,” says Ezra. And he speaks from experience.
As for Hero – he has become something of a celeb. His wanderings have made it into a couple of the country's newspapers. Make that three.