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含羞草研究社楢 blast from the past含羞草研究社: Lost wallet returns to B.C. man after 33 years

Nick Chowdhury was in his early twenties when he lost his wallet while fishing in 1991

Nick Chowdhury was in his early 20s when he lost his wallet at the Comox Marina while fishing in 1991.

Unbeknownst to him, a young man would return his wallet, more than 30 years later, after finding it at roughly the same location where it was last seen.

Born and raised in the Comox Valley, Chowdhury recalled how everything unfolded on that fateful day.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 pretty unbelievable,含羞草研究社 he said. 含羞草研究社淥ne summer day, I grabbed my fishing rod and went out to the Comox Marina when the tide was low. I hopped over the edge of the dock onto the breakwater rocks. As I started walking my wallet, which was in my front pocket, was sticking out of my shorts. So I looked at a spot and I remember holding my wallet and gently putting it down thinking 含羞草研究社楾his is the spot, I gotta remember this.含羞草研究社 含羞草研究社

Yet, hours later, following a long fishing session, Chowdhury realized his wallet was nowhere to be found.

含羞草研究社(When I came) back, of course, no rock looked familiar,含羞草研究社 he said. 含羞草研究社淚 probably walked around for an hour trying to retrace my wallet. I knew that if I didn含羞草研究社檛 get it, the tide would come up含羞草研究社 and I含羞草研究社檇 probably never see it again. After a while, I gave up.含羞草研究社

As a young man, Chowdhury explained that this incident ended up being a major headache.

含羞草研究社淓verything I had was in there: my birth certificate, my status card, my SIN (social insurance) card, my care cards含羞草研究社 everything,含羞草研究社 said Chowdhury. 含羞草研究社淚t was (such a) hassle to replace all of (my) IDs because you need some IDs to be able to prove who you are and get new ones.

含羞草研究社淚 didn含羞草研究社檛 have a lot back then and that was the last thing I needed.含羞草研究社

Frustrated and feeling defeated, the fisherman hopped on his bicycle and rode home empty-handed. A few weeks later, Chowdhury bought an identical wallet, stating that it was his favourite model.

Fast forward 33 years - cue Comox teen Jamie Lee, 14.

含羞草研究社淚 was fishing on the rocks with a bunch of my friends by the marina and one of my friends was going to go up to the dollar store to get us some snacks,含羞草研究社 Lee said. 含羞草研究社淗e took my other friend含羞草研究社檚 electric skateboard and started running over but he dropped the (board) controller (among the rocks) and lost it.含羞草研究社

As the teenager and his friends began combing through the boulders, on May 10, Lee stumbled upon a peculiar sight.

含羞草研究社淚 just started digging and digging and含羞草研究社 I removed a rock and saw this super old wallet,含羞草研究社 Lee said. 含羞草研究社淚 told my friends 含羞草研究社楪uys, I just found someone含羞草研究社檚 wallet.含羞草研究社 I picked it up, opened it and it was super crusty. There were holes in it and it was hard to open.含羞草研究社

Trying to make sense of what he just found, Lee brought the wallet to a safer place and started looking at its contents.

含羞草研究社淚 slowly started pulling out all the cards I saw (Chowdhury含羞草研究社檚) IDs,含羞草研究社 Lee recalled. 含羞草研究社淚 was shocked (so) I called my dad because this guy must have lost his wallet forever ago and I just wanted to get it back to him.含羞草研究社

Shortly after, Jamie含羞草研究社檚 dad, Bill Lee, slid into Chowdhury含羞草研究社檚 Facebook direct messages, informing him that his son had found his wallet.

Astounded, Chowdhury didn含羞草研究社檛 know how to react at first.

含羞草研究社淚 almost didn含羞草研究社檛 even reply to him,含羞草研究社 he said. 含羞草研究社淚t felt like somebody was trying to scam me because we didn含羞草研究社檛 know each other. (But then they) started sending me pictures (of my old IDs.)含羞草研究社

After noticing both he and Lee had a few friends in common, Chowdhury eventually replied.

含羞草研究社(Lee) happened to be coming into town. I gave him my address and 15 minutes later, there was a knock on the door and he said 含羞草研究社楾his is yours,含羞草研究社 and he held out my old wallet.含羞草研究社

Despite sustaining some damage, Chowdhury noted that everything in his wallet was still in its rightful place and in relatively good condition, more than three decades later.

Reflecting on this event, what was once an unfortunate incident has transformed into a unique story to share with friends and family around a fire pit.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 like a blast from the past,含羞草研究社 said Chowdhury. 含羞草研究社淚n fact, I was recently thinking of going (fishing) again and bringing my kids. Back then I wasn含羞草研究社檛 driving, so I rode my bike and everything was in my pockets. But now I含羞草研究社檓 going to drive out and leave anything that含羞草研究社檚 valuable, like wallets, in the car.含羞草研究社

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In the end, Jamie and his friends successfully found the electric skateboard含羞草研究社檚 controller.

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Olivier Laurin

About the Author: Olivier Laurin

I含羞草研究社檓 a bilingual multimedia journalist from Montr茅al who began my journalistic journey on Vancouver Island in 2023.
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