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Policeman surprises woman by returning fortune lost in water
Arab News



JEDDAH: It can be argued that floods and other calamities can bring out the worst in men, due to the looting that often occurs in the aftermath of such disasters. Fatima Al-Ghamdi, however, has a different story to tell.

On that fateful day when the flashfloods wreaked havoc in Quwaizah neighborhood, Fatima, a woman approaching her 60s, ventured out into the heavy downpour holding her sick husband’s hands looking for a safe place.

She had put all her cash and jewels worth more than SR500,000 in a small suitcase, which she carried in her left hand. The water was rising and it was becoming increasingly difficult for her husband to walk steadily against the current.

“If I did not hold him firmly with both my hands he would fall and the floodwaters would wash him away. I had no time to think. I just dropped the suitcase and looked the other way to avoid watching all my valuables disappear in the flood. My husband was dearer to me than anything else in the world,” Fatima told Al-Madinah newspaper.

She said she was happy they could reach a safe place without any incident. They were provided with a temporary apartment in another part of the city.

“But we were left penniless. At times I thought about the lost jewelry but I suppressed them as my husband was more valuable to me,” she said.

However, 11 days after the flood her husband received a call from a stranger. The man said he had come across a suitcase that had a paper with Fatima’s name on it and he wanted to return it.

“I did not believe in my wildest dreams that the valuables carried away by the flood would be returned to me. I thought that the man might have stumbled upon a battered suitcase and all its contents might have scattered in the flood or anyone who might have discovered it would have stolen them,” she said.

But the jewelry box was returned to her and none of its contents was missing.

Aun Al-Ghamdi, a policeman, was the man who found the suitcase. He apologized to them for the delay in returning the box. He said he had tried for 10 days to get their address. He said the suitcase flowed into his car, which was submerged on a road three kilometers from the Quwaizah neighborhood.

“I was on my way to Makkah on Nov. 25 when I ran into the flashflood. In fact, I rescued some people. But as the water was very high, I could not go ahead anymore. I also took the suitcase with me,” he said.

He said he opened the box out of curiosity and was dazzled by its glittering contents. When he found the bank paper with Fatima’s name on it he contacted the bank. The manager refused to give any information for data protection purposes. After 10 days he finally relented and gave Al-Ghamdi Fatima’s telephone number.

Overcome by gratitude, the couple presented him with a check for a large sum of money, but he refused to take it, saying he preferred a reward from the Almighty.