A message in a bottle containing the ashes of a young woman who wanted to see the world has washed up in one of the remotest parts of the UK.
The small pink plastic bottle contains a small amount of Laura Newman’s remains, along with a note asking those who find it to get in touch with her parents.
Laura, was only 24-years-old when she passed away on in August 2016, having been bed-bound from the age of 16.
She suffered from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy after twisting her ankle on holiday, a condition that left her in extreme pain.
Laura, from March in Cambridgeshire. had trouble moving, eating, couldn’t tolerate light, vibration or loud noise around her and her only contact with the outside world was eventually through her online friends.
Following her death, her parents decided to scatter her ashes at all the places where she loved to travel and to put some of them in a pink bottle so she could continue her journey.
While out on a walk with his brother, John Macleod found the touching tribute to the 24-year-old on the shore of Scalpay in the Outer Hebrides.
The 44-year-old fisherman was touched by the note and said he wants to hear about the bottle’s travels for years to come.
He said: “When we sat down and opened the bottle and saw there was a message inside we got a bit of a shock. I’ve never seen something like and probably never will again.
“I threw the bottle back into the sea last week to let it continue its journey and hopefully the wind hasn’t just sent it back in our direction.
“It just brings amazement to everyone that it’s travelled virtually from Land’s End to Scalpay in about seven months.
“Everyone I’ve told has been amazed about it. I think it’s a beautiful story.
“It feels like fate that we found it 18 months to the day since she died.
“We found it on the beach and it was swept ashore. We sent it back out at the exact spot where we found it.
“It would be nice to hear about her for years to come.”
Laura’s mum, Fay Newman, 59, said that John was the first person to get back to her.
She said: “We wanted to scatter her ashes in all of the places that she liked to go and we’re still going to scatter them wherever we go on holiday.
“But my husband had the idea to put some of her ashes into a pink bottle so that she could continue travelling.
“We put a note in the bottle with some of her ashes to ask anyone who finds it to let us know.
“The email address that we initially put in the bottle was actually wrong but John was so determined to get in touch with us that he tried every possible combination he could think of.
“This is the first time someone has gotten back to us and hopefully we’ll be hearing from people for years to come.
“We’ve looked at Scalpay online and it’s beautiful. Laura would have loved it.
“She loved going to Cornwall and researching where her online friends were from but unfortunately wasn’t able to see as much of the world as she would have liked.
“She made friends with people all around the world, never judging people for their beliefs, race or colour.
“She had wanted to go to university and be a doctor from an early age.
“She was such a caring person, she would have made a brilliant doctor.
“We know that if there is life after this one that she will strive to achieve all the things she missed out on in this life.”