HOUSTON — A San Antonio woman is on a mission to find a special missing blanket last seen at a Houston-area McDonald's earlier this month. She's hoping the power of social media and viewers like you help make the unlikely find.
To her thousands of followers on TikTok, she's known as the "Renal Rascal." Samantha Luis Martinez has been dealing with kidney disease for nearly a decade. After one transplant and way too many dialysis appointments to count, she's still fighting.
"I do have to go three times a week," Martinez said. "I'm there for nearly four hours each time."
For nearly four years, a unique purple blanket has been her companion in that fight to stay alive.
"It was from my mom," Martinez said. "It hurts a little more because she made it so I could use it for dialysis."
It was a Christmas gift in 2020. Her mom died from COVID less than a month later.
"I had the blanket when I found out," Martinez said. "Me and my mom were very close. I'd like to keep that connection alive."
This brings our story to a McDonald's off Greens Road and I-45. She was there on a layover in Houston on Aug. 12 when she accidentally left it behind.
Martinez said McDonald's staff told her someone grabbed it after she left and walked out with it. She's made flyers hoping she can get the blanket back.
"Please share, there's a $100 reward, help me find it," Martinez told her followers on TikTok.
She knows in a city the size of Houston, it won't be easy.
"If someone were to hand it to me, I would be so emotionally overwhelmed, so grateful," Martinez said.
She hasn't lost hope.
"Just being able to hug the blanket and feel the connection," Martinez said while holding back the tears. "It's just for me. Something I would do anything for."
A mother's embrace long after she's gone, you can't put a price on that.
If you spot the blanket, please reach out to Samantha at 808-468-2625 or email us at mbenito@khou.com.