Chris Davies never wanted a hamster. But when his eight-year-old daughter Lily presented detailed folders on habitat drawings and wheel specifications, he relented. On a cold January morning in 2021, they went to a Cardiff pet shop, where a scruffy, skinny hamster nobody else wanted caught their eye. The staff member lifted him out, he yawned, and looked at Lily as if he’d been expecting her. She named him Popcorn Sushi.
An Unlikely Bond
Popcorn turned out to be unlike any animal Davies had known. He was nonchalantly relaxed, grinding his teeth when happy and licking fingers when petted. He never acted afraid. Lily became his “manager”, creating a laminated rota for vegetables, fresh water, and bedding. Popcorn was a foodie, stuffing his cheeks with banana, broccoli, apple, and even chicken, carrying off treasures to eat later. He divided his sand bath into two strict zones: toilet at one end, shower at the other.
Every evening at seven, Popcorn would settle at the same end of the sofa. At the time, Davies was struggling with undiagnosed inattentive ADHD, anxiety, and a 30-year stammer. One evening, he lifted Popcorn out of his enclosure, and the hamster settled into his armpit and fell asleep. It became a ritual: Popcorn on his chest, forcing Davies into a stillness his racing brain had never achieved. “You cannot spiral while a sleeping hamster is breathing on your chest,” Davies recalls.
From Viral Videos to a Book
Davies filmed their evenings with Popcorn to send to family and posted them online, where the videos went viral. Lily and Davies co-wrote a children’s book, Popcorn: The Unlikeliest of Friends, and Davies wrote a memoir, What Popcorn Knew.
One night, a woman named Carrie left a comment on a TikTok post about Popcorn. They started chatting and made plans to meet. On 29 December 2025, Davies married her.
Popcorn’s Legacy
Popcorn died in the summer of 2023, after two and a half years. The family buried him in the garden. “We were devastated,” Davies says. Those moments of calm with Popcorn on his chest led him to seek an ADHD diagnosis. “This scruffy hamster gave me my voice. Without Popcorn I never would have met the love of my life – I owe him so much.”
