Missing purse sparks wave of generosity in Cookstown

Aine Doyle with her purse and the picture of her granny that was inside

Last Thursday Aine Doyle’s purse fell out of her bag as she walked to the gym, but after friends paid nearly £200 in her bank account, her sister called to say someone had found it, with every penny inside.

The 30-year-old said she then returned the donations, but one friend refused her £30 donation because “she wants to keep the good karma”.

Aine has since decided to pay it forward to charity.

“I was working and had just gotten paid £210 in cash,” Aine explained. “I never carry cash with me... but I never got to the bank to lodge it.

After leaving work to go to the gym, she said: “I walked the whole way from Morgan’s Hill Road out to Derryloran Industrial estate and got to the gym... changed and realised my purse wasn’t there, and just had to leave.

“I walked the whole way from there back to work again and it was nowhere to be seen.

“So I put it on Facebook to see if anybody was on that road and saw it - just to get a bit of awareness - that if it was found then at least people would know it was me.”

But her message she said, got a completely different kind of reaction.

“One of my friends, a local Wedding DJ called Sammy English, suggested they all have a whip-round to help me make back my wages.

All the money I had in the world was in my purse... he said ‘I’ll start it off with £20 - I just need nine more people’.

“Loads of my friends then saw it and started putting money into my bank - I made back £30 less than my wages.”

But the story did not end there.

“On Saturday evening I got a phone call from my sister to tell me that this lady had found my purse,” Aine went on.

“I couldn’t believe it.

“All I wanted back was the purse for sentimental reasons - I have a picture of my granny and my mummy in my purse and granny died in 2006 - so it means a lot to me.

“I just can’t get over it that it was actually found, especially with everything in it.”