A woman has revealed how she secretly tried to get rid of her mother’s “horrific” doll but it fell apart when the story went viral.
Nathalie Ramirez thought she had managed to get rid of the figurine, named Hannah, by donating it to a charity shop in Edinburgh.
But the doll soon startled passers-by as it stared out the window, becoming a “creepy” hit on social media before a celebrity psychic caught it.
Nathalie said her mother was not happy to discover Hannah’s fate but she began to see the funny side and “smiled through her teeth.”
Nathalie told BBC Scotland News that her 74-year-old mother, Angela Henderson, had long been an avid doll collector, and had more than a hundred mini-figures in a glass cabinet at the family home near Oxgangs.
But Nathalie found the realistic childlike doll, originally called Hannah, “appalling” when her mother bought it 12 years ago.
Her mother has now moved to the Isle of Mull to live with her son, so Nathalie, 51, took the opportunity while cleaning her house to “accidentally” slip the doll into a package for St Columba’s charity shop in Morningside.
“I always thought it was scary and she wouldn’t notice if I just put it in a box,” says Nathalie.
“St Columba’s came to collect the goods from the shop and the doll was in the first box I gave the man. But I thought whoever opened it, I was going to give them a heart attack.”
Her cunning plan is thwarted when the doll, now renamed Annabelle, begins to attract attention on social media for its eerily human appearance.
Manager Simone Varga said she “wondered if the doll would live” before selling it.
The shop slashed the price from £180 to £90 and gave the doll a sign saying “I’m not creepy” in a bid to keep it going.
But when the story went viral, it was eventually bought for £200 by celebrity psychic Deborah Davies.
“I thought I had survived and the next thing I was on the front page of the paper,” said Nathalie.
“The poor mother was not happy, although I think she will come to see that she has actually done something good by raising money for charity.”
One consolation is that another very much alive doll belonging to Angela – called Baby Emily – made the journey to her new home without any mishap.
Nathalie revealed that the clothes the doll was wearing belonged to her younger sister Michelle when she was young.
Hannah – a name chosen “at random” by Angela – was also wearing a pair of Clark’s baby shoes and must have been about six or seven years old.
Michelle has also moved to Tobermory from the capital and lives with Nathalie and Angela, meaning there’s little chance of avoiding any awkward conversations about the doll’s mysterious disappearance.
“With the three of us at home at the moment, every time it comes up, me and my sister start laughing,” Nathalie said.
“Mama was really upset at first. But I think now he has to smile about it, but through gritted teeth.
“She volunteered at St Columba’s for years and the doll raised more for them than we would have sold, so I think it worked.
Meanwhile, psychic Ms Davies, who has appeared on Unexplained: Caught on Camera and Real Housewives of Cheshire, told BBC Scotland she plans to keep it on display in her home.
But like everyone else, he is a bit apprehensive about the doll’s appearance, and will put it under “under 24 hr surveillance”.
He said he planned to talk to the doll and do an “investigation” because he believed there was a human soul attached to it.
