Backpack comes with quite a story inside

When his grandmom took Thomas Kohler to see Pope Francis in Philadelphia last year, the 10-year-old came home with a prized memento – a souvenir backpack.

The bag quickly played a huge role in the autistic boy’s life – carrying his favorite items, accompanying him to school, helping him strike up conversations with new friends.

“He loved the backpack!” said his mother, Theresa Kohler. “This bag was unbelievably special to him.”

Uh oh.

Loved. Was.

More: Pope's visit turned Philly into a different city

You see, something went wrong when Thomas put the bag in a cubby he shares with his 9-year-old brother, Conner. The younger boy had left a damp jacket in the cubby — and mold spread to the beloved backpack.

With no way to clean the straps on the plastic backpack, Thomas’s parents realized they had to find a replacement — and fast.

“The connection with that bag was so important to him,” said Theresa Kohler, who feared the loss of the backpack would "send him into a breakdown."

But the Kohlers, although prepared to pay a premium, could not find any backpacks online.

“I knew it was going to be difficult but I didn’t think it was going to be as hard as it was,” said the boy’s mother. “There was nothing out there.”

In desperation, Kohler emailed the Courier-Post after noticing our coverage of Francis in Philly last September. One story had profiled Linda Milano, a Sicklerville woman who designed the official backpacks for the pope’s visit.

They were given to about 15,000 pilgrims at the World Meeting of Families, the global event that brought Francis here.

Kohler’s desperate question: Are any still available?

Milano, who received a similar email, had a quick answer: Yes, there’s one sample left.

And it’s yours.

Related: One man's weary walk to Pope-adelphia

“She was unbelievable, really understanding and kind,” Kohler said in an interview Thursday. “She went above and beyond in a way that may have seemed small to her but was amazing to us.”

“I felt there was an urgency and desperation in her original plea,” said Milano. “I was happy to help.”

Within a few days of Kohler’s appeal, a new papal bag – call it Backpack II - had arrived at the family’s home in the Philadelphia suburb of Ambler. Thomas, who was away with his father and grandparents, was still unaware his original bag had been ruined.

“I didn’t tell him until we had the new one,” said Kohler, noting the boy burst into tears before he learned of the successor.

Milano, who runs CFB Promotional Products LLC, wouldn’t accept any payment. “She said, ‘Just let people know my company is a good company,'" said Kohler. "That’s the best marketing you could do, ever.”

It turns out the first backpack wasn’t an official product, so the bags have slight differences. But that doesn’t seem to bother Thomas, who likes the touches of color in Milano’s version.

“He’s so excited that it has green in it,” Kohler said.

The kid’s parents are pretty happy, too.

“Everything had to align perfectly for this,” said Kohler. “For him to get the very last one of this rare and specific bag, that’s just amazing.”

Jim Walsh’s column runs in print Fridays. Reach him at jwalsh@gannettnj.com and (856) 486-2646.