A Listener Finds Port Player's Wallet In A Secondhand Backpack!

A woman finds a professional athlete's wallet in a secondhand backpack she bought at a thrift store and returns it to him. Their chance encounter leads to a heartwarming story of honesty and kindness.

In this feel-good pod, listeners call in with stories about unusual things they've found inside used items. One woman, Cindy, shares how she came across a Port Adelaide Football Club backpack at a thrift shop and decided to buy it as a gift for her husband. To their surprise, tucked away inside was the wallet of Will Snelling, a former Port Adelaide player. Despite her family's playful protests, Cindy insists on returning the wallet to Will's home. Will is shocked when Cindy arrives on his doorstep with his missing wallet in hand. The experience brings closure to a longstanding family debate over what happened to the backpack. Will expresses his gratitude for Cindy's honesty while Cindy's daughter is starstruck by the famous footballer. It's a lighthearted story showing how a small act of integrity can brighten someone's day.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
My Heart podcasts here more mixed one or two point
three podcasts, playlists and listen live on the free iHeart app.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
I found a message in my son's secondhand soccer top
and it was written in a text inside it says, Joe,
this is for you rip mum, wish you were here.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
People come and go, but legends live forever.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
And I just thought, oh, that is so special, and
I love that my son was the one that picked
it up and is still wearing it.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
So we've been asking you on thirty one or two three,
what did you find in something that you bought that
wasn't yours?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Now, Cindy has an incredible story.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
What is it?

Speaker 5 (00:42):
Cindy here, Good morning guys. Yeah it was I've gone
back a couple of years ago.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Now.

Speaker 5 (00:46):
I was shopping at an opshop down southand came across
a port Adelaide backpack that had the players uh not
on it, all the authentic logos and everything. So I thought, oh, okay,
I'm going to take this. I'll buy this and took
it home and gave it to my husband as a gift.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
And what a brilliant op shop find. Yeah, that's excellent
player issue backpack.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, coresis.

Speaker 5 (01:09):
It was fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
To say.

Speaker 5 (01:13):
He's like, oh, where did you find this? He goes,
you know what this is? This is an authentic port
Adelaide backpack, and I went it was at the shop shop.
So he's searching through the pockets and got to the
bottom pocket and he goes, on no, and I went,
what's the matter. He goes, you're not going to believe this.
Then all of a sudden pulls out their player's wallet.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Who was it? It was player?

Speaker 5 (01:36):
It was Will Snelling.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Will Snelling he played for Porto, was a small forward
for a few years, the.

Speaker 5 (01:44):
Number number thirty four if I remember right.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
What was in his wallet his.

Speaker 5 (01:49):
Driver's license, bank card. And I said to my husband,
we need to return this because honesty is the best policy.
We undernawd for about twenty minutes, and my lovely daughter Emily,
who speaks to you guys regularly, she's like, we need
to take this. We need to take this to his house.
So he took it to his house and lovely Will

(02:10):
came to the door. Were handed him in the market, well,
I found your backpack at a knop shop, but we
most important found your wallet and here is your wallet.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
How do he react?

Speaker 5 (02:21):
He was actually quite surprised, and he said, thank you
very much for returning it. And then he turned to
his mum and said, Mum, you were the one that
got rid of my backpack pockets.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Cindy.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
I'm actually I've got Will's number from when he used
to play at Port Adelaide, and we've just punched it
in over here. We're going to give Will Stelling a
ring so against the verification of this crazy story, let's
do it now.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
They probably I will. Oh my god, this is so funny. Will,
you've just heard.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I don't know if you've been listening, but you just
heard the tale of Cindy who found your backpack in
a n op shop, found your wallet inside, knocked on
your front door.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Is that how you would say? The events rolled out
very much.

Speaker 6 (03:06):
So.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
I've been looking for that for a long time, and
I was having that long term argument with my mum
about whose fault it was. My wallet had been lost,
so not often was it actually her fault, But it
was good vindication for me to prove that it wasn't
just my clumsiness.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Why is mom thrown out all of your old pork gear?

Speaker 6 (03:24):
Well, that's right.

Speaker 4 (03:25):
It makes me hope no one at Port's listening.

Speaker 6 (03:27):
But I think it was around the time I'd being
picked up by Esenbon and so every year you get
some new gear, and I just got all this new
stuff from Essendon and wasn't really going to need my
port bag anymore. And I think Mum thought it might
be so good little thing for people to find a
knop shot, And yeah, it turns out it was.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Can I ask honestly, Cindy's on the phone at the
moment when you got to the front door and you're like,
oh my god, is this a fan standing at my
door with my wallet?

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Like what did you actually think? Will?

Speaker 6 (03:55):
Yeah, that's it's true.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
I had the screen door locked, just in cat.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
What about Cindy.

Speaker 6 (04:04):
Was there ever, like a split second that you were like,
oh my god, I should keep this?

Speaker 5 (04:09):
Yeah? No, no, definitely not. Honestly has always been the
best policy, And that's the way I was brought up.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
How did you repay Cindy? Will?

Speaker 4 (04:18):
It should have taken twenty bucks out of the wall.

Speaker 5 (04:20):
But you know, there was definitely there was nothing. You know, thanks,
thanks was enough. So but I must say my daughter
was a little bit disappointed because she was. She's a
big Port at Laide supporter and having a player stand
right in front of her, she was actually in her element.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Will have we got any old Port caps or old
training guernsey somewhere that mum hasn't thrown out that we
can throw Cindy's way.

Speaker 6 (04:46):
It's not bad, No, no, it might be donated at
this point.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah, mum, what a story. Thank you for sharing.

Speaker 5 (04:57):
Thanks a lot, Will, and you were the best for
the rest of your career.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
He's still playing, he's still playing for Sturdy's got finals
this weekend and you come back to Port mate.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
I don't think that's how just getting gear? Maybe I will, Yeah,
thank you Will, thank city.

Speaker 6 (05:12):
Thanks try