A lucky cruise ship passenger who dropped her camera into the Atlantic on a Queen Mary 2 cruise 14 months ago has been reunited with her photos.
Spanish fisherman Benito Estevez, from Vigo, found the camera in his trawler nets. On discovering that the memory card was still intact he made it his mission to return the camera to the owners. Mr Estevez first contacted Cruise Critic, the cruise fan forum site, and later the story made in onto BBC South Today, where a friend of Mrs Gregory saw the story and got in touch.
Barbara and Dennis Gregory were pleasantly surprised to hear the news their camera had been found. Though the camera was damaged beyond use, the memory card with their silver wedding anniversary pictures had survived. The couple, who live in Johannesburg, South Africa, travelled to Vigo last week to meet Mr Estevez and to retrieve the pictures.
Mrs Gregory had said "It's too big a thing to sit a million miles away at home and just say thank you by email," while on the dockside in Vigo. "The pictures were of our silver wedding anniversary trip of a lifetime. But once it falls to the bottom of the Atlantic you just give up on it... The fact that he dredged it from the sea bed is almost miraculous. [The] deep concern of Benito to find us, and the effort that he went to, is beyond the normal call of human duty."
Benito Estevez added "I looked for the owner of the pictures because I thought how I would feel if I lost some important memories. And now we have met Barbara and Dennis, I am so happy."
Written by Stephen Adam, quotes from BBC News.