Imagine losing your wallet in the ocean and giving up hope, only to have the sea return it months later. That's exactly what happened to Marcie Callawaert, a resident of a remote island near Tofino, British Columbia. While walking her dogs on the beach, she stumbled upon a familiar sight amidst the tide-washed debris-her own wallet, lost since June 2023.
It had been months since she'd accidentally dropped it overboard while boarding a boat.
"I didn't zip the pocket on my backpack that the wallet goes into, and I heard the splash when I got into my boat," she told CHEK News on Thursday.
Ms Callawaert, known for documenting her off-grid island life on TikTok (with over 47,000 followers), had previously accepted the wallet's disappearance after a diver search yielded nothing.
"I had a diver go look to save me some peace of mind," she said.
But fate had other plans, and the ocean delivered a remarkable surprise.
The ocean, often seen as a force of immense power, played a surprisingly gentle hand with Marcie's wallet. While the salty embrace claimed the zipper, the rest of its contents - cash and cards - emerged unscathed.
"I knew right away," she says. "It stopped me right in my tracks."
Although the wallet contained only around $20 in cash, it surprisingly retained all of her cards and identification, remarkably preserved even after spending eight months at the ocean's depths.
"The only damage is that the zipper was corroded," she said.
Marcie Callawaert's video has gone viral on TikTok, with a combined total of over 7 million views, and I have been contacted by media and agencies around the world.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world