Transit customer meets CTrain operator who returned her purse
On a bright, brisk spring morning, Li Feng Yang met her hero.
On Tuesday, Yang shared a moment with CTrain operator Mesfin Tadese at the Centre Street station, the man who returned the purse she had forgotten on the CTrain last week.
The purse contained $1,300 in cash gifts, her cellphone and credit cards.
Yang, 75, said the emotions she’s feeling now compared to when she realized her purse was gone are complete opposites.
“I am too happy, it’s hard to believe what I see,” said Yang in a written speech. “Undeniable truth is in front of me.”
Yang said she realized she left her purse on the CTrain on March 21 the minute the train started to pull away.
She notified Calgary Transit immediately of her loss, and was told they would notify her if it was found.
She said she had a “sleepless night” wondering if she would ever see her purse — and the valuables inside it — again.
Tadese found the purse while doing a walk through at the 69th Street station. He called it in and kept it safe, before turning it over to Calgary Transit’s lost property department.
“It’s part of my job to do the right thing,” said Tadese.
According to Calgary Transit, 50 to 100 items are forgotten on the CTrain or bus every day.
Anything from musical instruments to false teeth have been turned in to its lost property department, and the Calgary Transit team works to get the lost items back to their owners quickly.
Tadese has been a CTrain operator for 13 years and said people lose things all the time, but has never had someone be as grateful as Yang.
“I’m happy to see the original owner and give back the purse for her,” said Tadese. “I never thought it was going to be a big deal like this.”