'Faith in humanity – restored': Stranger fulfills heartfelt request from disabled widow

A widow left a single rose for her late husband outside a gated lake in which his ashes were scattered, along with a personal request.

The note, written by the anonymous woman, read, “Please, can someone throw this into the lake for me? My late husband’s ashes are in the lake and I can’t get to the lakeside in my wheelchair anymore + gates are locked — have to drive back up North tonight. Thank you.”

Ian Bousfield, the owner of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School Rowing Club, tweeted a photo of the items left outside the gates of Powell’s Pool in Sutton Coldfield, U.K., writing, “This note was left on the gate at the water this afternoon. No name or number left but whoever you are, rest assured your rose is in place in the middle of the lake.”

He also tweeted a photo of the red rose floating in the lake to honor her wishes.

More than 49,000 people liked Bousfield’s tweet, and it was shared more than 174,000 times, reaching people in countries such as Australia, Ireland, South Africa, and Singapore. There were requests to make the lake more accessible to people with disabilities and many hoped the widow would hear of Bousfield’s gesture.

Bousfield did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. Dominic Robson of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School told U.K.’s the Sun that Bousfield’s “lovely gesture” was “just typical of the man.”

Robson added, “He’s a very unassuming man — he’s not one for lots of attention. He just wanted to make sure that whoever put [the rose and note] there knows that their wishes had been respected. He’s a very, very good person and very honorable guy who as a human being was moved by the heartfelt message.”

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