A Donegal man had a nightmare experience when collecting his hand luggage before getting off his flight from Belfast to Faro.
Paul Monagle, from Malin, would have been certain he had picked up the correct bag, his distinct wine coloured suitcase when leaving the plane, but would have been shocked when he opened it up.
Rachel Saligari from Helens Bay, Co. Down, was on board the flight with her husband and three sons on their way to stay outside Albufeira.
Upon reaching her accommodation, Rachel realised her identical wine suitcase was taken by someone else and she had theirs.
Much to her surprise when she opened the suitcase, it was full of clothes, including wedding clothes, as opposed to the phone chargers and books in her case, but Rachel and her husband cleverly deduced who the man was.
“He (Paul) had been sitting beside my husband and he recognised the accent and when I opened the case there was a Donegal GAA top and clothes that looked like they were for a wedding.
“We figured it must have been the guy who had told my husband he was going over to Albufeira for a wedding.”
Realising that the man would have been stuck for an outfit for the wedding he was attending, Rachel turned to social media for help:
“By the time I had realised I had the wrong case it was late evening and there was no answer at the airport or airlines so I figured I’d try social media.”
Rachel posted on her Facebook page yesterday: “Ok let’s try the power of Social media – does anyone know a guy from Donegal who was flying Belfast -Faro on EasyJet this morning EZY 6793 who was going to a wedding in Albufeira tomorrow or Thursday?
“He has lifted my hand luggage off the plane by mistake and I have his. The suitcases are exactly the same! I have a bag full of his clothes and he literally has phone charges and books in my bag so that won’t get him very far!!
“Please Share this to try and get his wedding clothes back to him in time!!”
With over 4,000 shares in under 15 hours, Paul got in contact with Rachel and they eventually sorted out the mix-up.
“He actually messaged me about 10pm last night but I missed it until this morning and he was only about 10 minutes away from where I was staying so I was able to jump in a taxi and call over to get it this morning in time for the wedding this afternoon.”
