The tide gives back
Camera lost on N.S. river rafting ride ‘resurfaces’ in another province, three years later
Gone. For good.
Cinda Willigar knew it, after the Brookfield, N.S., woman lost her camera on a river rafting ride in South Maitland in May 2015.
“Halfway through our awesome trip riding the rapids, I placed the camera in my pocket and snapped it shut,” she said. “Later, when we were getting out of the Zodiac I felt my pocket and it was empty.”
By rights, it should have been gone, along with the images she had captured of a fun outing with her friend, Liz Wilcox. But strange things happen. On April 24, Chris McMahon, who lives in Sackville, N.B., was cleaning up a beach in Dorchester Cape, N.B., when he found the camera.
“I took it to Ivan’s Camera, in Moncton, to see if they could develop the film,” he said.
“It was almost like finding a message in bottle, but with no name or address.”
He posted photos and information online, asking people to share the post, and contact him if they recognized the people in the images.
“Someone shared it on the Amherst buy-and-sell site. I’m originally from Springhill and people saw it and thought they recognized me,” said Willigar.
“When I saw Liz, and Morgan MacDonald, who owns Fundy Tidal Bore Adventures, in the pictures with me I couldn’t believe it. I knew they were the pictures from my long-lost camera.”
She contacted McMahon, who sent the photos and the camera to her by train within days. She then surprised Wilcox by handing her a box containing the items.
“Not many people would have tried to have those photos developed and then try to track down the people, but if he hadn’t done this, I would never have had those memories to give to Liz.”
To thank him for his efforts, Morgan MacDonald has agreed to give McMahon and a friend a free Fundy Tidal Bore Adventures rafting experience.