When Colin Macaulay’s bright blue rucksack containing essential medical equipment and a Valentine’s card for his beloved wife Anne was stolen on a holiday in France, he believed he would never see it again.
The bag was recovered by Toulouse couple Delphine Prevost and Nicolas Bouisset, who grew suspicious when it was moved to the rubbish after a day outside their building.
With no clue of who the bag belonged to, they immediately set about investigating how to return it to its rightful owner.
What followed was a heart-warming story of how the power of the internet put the two couples in contact within 30 minutes – and returned the bag to them.
But how did the dedicated French couple and the power of social media combine to reunite Mr Macaulay with his backpack, minus only 20 Creme Eggs, a bottle of whisky and a jumper, through insurmountable odds?
Here’s how it was done.
The theft
Retired former Nairn councillor Colin Macaulay and his wife Anne, who was depute head teacher at Nairn Academy, were in the south of France to relax at their property in Beziers, which they bought in 2015.
The couple joined thronging crowds in Toulouse on Thursday to board a late-running train to the ancient hotspot, which is one of the country’s oldest cities.
Mr Macaulay needs poles to walk and a kind-hearted French commuter, seeing the couple struggling with the rucksack in the busy station, helped them onto the train.
However, their relaxing holiday to the Mediterranean coast would quickly take an unexpected turn.
Mr Macaulay said: “We put the rucksack on the first luggage rack and we were just three or four rows of seats away.
“We began to get settled and then locked round and the rucksack was gone, within just two or three minutes. We hadn’t even left the station.
“I stuck my head out the door but couldn’t see anyone with it. Anne went out of the train but was basically just shepherded back on the train.”
Stolen were Mr Macaualay’s CPAP sleep apnoea breathing machine, which he has relied on for 14 years to ensure he doesn’t stop breathing while sleeping, as well as medical tablets.
Anxious conversations with GPs in what French they could speak were arranged when they arrived in Beziers to ensure arrangements were made for the medication.
But what happened to the bag?
The first clues
Delphine and Nicolas first clocked the distinctive bright blue backpack outside their building when they returned home on Friday – initially believing it belonged to a local resident who had briefly left it outside.
It was when they noticed the packed bag had been moved to the rubbish on Saturday that they began to get suspicious.
Deciding to look inside, they found the bag packed with a breathing mask for sleep apnoea and, heartbreakingly, a Valentine’s card destined for the owner’s wife.
Mrs Prevost said: “When we saw them we realised this is definitely not normal, they shouldn’t be there, something isn’t right – so we took the bag with us.
“We emptied it to look for clues for who it belongs to and it was clear the person was British.”
Pulling out a Tesco Clubcard and a Nectar card were the first confirmed signs the owner of the bag was not from France.
However, calls to Tesco and Nectar to appeal for help were stonewalled with the operators saying they could not help due to data protection rules.
Frustrated, Mrs Prevost and Mr Bouisset began to think again about how to return the bag to its owner.
Power of social media
Thwarted in their initial attempts to find the owner, Mrs Prevost and Mr Bouisset began to delve further into the rucksack for clues.
When they pulled out a map with a Scottish saltire and a box of tablet, they deduced the owner was likely a Scottish visitor.
Mrs Prevost took her search online, posting an appeal with images of the bag and its contents on an Edinburgh lost and found group on Facebook.
Very quickly tips and suggestions began flooding in with ideas about how to trace the mystery Scottish visitor with the rucksack stolen in France – before one person said they had already worked out who it was.
Mrs Prevost said: “I got some advice to put it on the Lostbox group, so I did that, and immediately many, many messages came very quickly.
“Within 30 minutes I had someone tell me they had identified the man because he used the same breathing machine and was in a Facebook group with him where he had posted pictures of being in Toulouse.”
The reunion
After being put in contact with each other the two couples met in Toulouse on Monday to hand over the stolen bag.
And after the whirlwind experience, they enjoyed lunch together in the French city – before making arrangements to meet again before the Macaulays return home to Nairn.
Mr Macaulay said: “Ever since we heard it was found, Anne and I have just been sighing and saying ‘What a relief.’
“The only things missing from it were a nice bottle of malt for some French friends, his wife really likes Crème Eggs, so there were 20 Creme Eggs missing, and a new cashmere jumper and a Macaulay tartan scarf – they didn’t take the Scottish tablet.
“It’s just an amazing thing to know that people, total strangers, were so eager to help us – it restores your faith in humanity and shows the good that can come from social media. It’s a bit of a miracle.
“Delphine and Nicolas are a lovely young French couple. I hope we’re able to offer them some hospitality in Nairn one day.”