These handmade friendship bracelets are connecting a Labrador girl to international hockey players
Labrador U13 player traded friendship bracelets with players from Germany, Latvia and Switzerland
Rachel Parsons has been standing outside the rink glass at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Halifax, holding a sign with an offer: "Friendship Bracelet for a Puck?"
Players from multiple countries have taken her up on the offer and traded a puck for a handcrafted memento.
"I thought it would be a nice memory for her and for me too," said Switzerland forward Jeremy Prada.
"Your bracelet looks very beautiful.… I wear it now all the time and I'm glad I did the trade."
Rachel and her mother, Jill Williams, decided to travel to the world juniors from their home in Happy Valley-Goose Bay at the last minute. They've been attending every game possible since Dec. 27, Williams said.
Rachel was hoping to get a puck from the event and saw other children trading items, Williams said. So the two bought some thread and she started crafting.
She's now traded with Prada, Germany goaltender Simon Wolf, Latvia forward Klavs Veinberg, Canada defenceman Ethan Del Mastro, Austria's Stefan Klassek, and the Czech Republic's Michael Spacek.
"I guess you know, like I'm besties with half of Europe now, so that's pretty cool," Rachel said.
"During the game they have a big screen where they showed the players and you could see Wolf actually take off his glove and you could see the friendship bracelet on his wrist," Williams said. "She was absolutely thrilled."
Rachel's sign and bracelets started going viral on TikTok after another fan took a video. As of Thursday, the video had more than 400,000 views.
The attention from the sign has been "super-cool," Rachel said. As a hockey player herself, her mother said, Rachel has been invested in watching the tournament, but as a fan, "it's always been a dream."
"It's just been magical the entire trip," Williams said.
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With files from Labrador Morning