The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Facebook Samaritans rally to save Barbara’s beloved bench
Help floods in to assist terminally ill woman
A man has praised the kindness of strangers after his terminally-ill wife’s prized garden chair was dumped in a river by thoughtless yobs.
John Dow’s wife Barbara was diagnosed with terminal acute myeloid leukaemia nine months ago and had enjoyed sitting in the chair in her Cupar garden to take her mind off her condition.
However, after Barbara returned from walking her dog on Sunday, she was dismayed to find the chair had been stolen.
However, John said his faith in humanity had been restored after an appeal on social media led to the chair being found just hours later.
It had been dumped in the river at Cupar’s Haugh Park and appeared irretrievable. However, John said he and Barbara had been inundated with offers from strangers on social media to winch it from the water to assess the damage.
Retired Dundee District Council housing officer John, 62, said his wife had loved the chair and had been “very upset” that it was gone.
He said: “Barbara really enjoys the garden and before the condition she would spend as much time as possible there.
“She has been responding well to her treatment and the garden has helped her get over the obvious side-effects of her diagnosis.
“I couldn’t believe that someone had come in and dragged it out — and it’s a big heavy thing.”
His post received more than 1,300 shares in less than 18 hours and was shared as far afield as Aberdeenshire by well-meaning strangers.
He added: “I’m hoping I can get in contact with the individuals who have offered to help to see if we can get it back into the garden and see what can be done.
“The people that have responded on Facebook have shown us that for every vicious, thoughtless individual like that out there, there are many more kind people who will do their best to help.”