A retired police officer was heartbroken when thieves broke into his home and stole his Exemplary Service Medal last year. However, the 82-year-old was shocked when good-hearted strangers tracked him down after they pulled it from a river.
The retired officer was devastated when burglars entered his home and took the treasured medal that he was awarded over 28 years ago. He believed the medal that was awarded to him for 32 years of service with the Northamptonshire Police, was lost forever.
Geoffrey, having lost all hope, was overjoyed when he received a call saying the medal had been found in a river, still in its metal box.
Dave Jordan,45, records his exploits on his YouTube channel using a large magnet to fish junk out of rivers. Jordan had organized a litter clean-up and was joined by a teenage fan- Ryan Davenport and Davenport’s dad in search of treasures in the River Nene.
Jordan said they had been pulling things out of the river for approximately 30 minutes when Davenport fished out a small blue metal box.
“We would have never of found the medal if we hadn’t tackled all the rubbish in the river first,” said Jordan. “At first, we found old bits of shopping carts and other metal items but about 30 minutes into our fish, Ryan pulled out the box, and it’s got ‘police long service medal’ written on it.”
“It really was like finding a needle in a haystack,” exclaimed Jordan.
The medal was engraved with Geoffrey’s name and badge number so they were able to track down the officer’s phone number online.
“When I told Geoffrey’s wife, Maureen we had found the medal over the phone, she was over the moon, because they never thought it would be found,” Jordan said. “This was truly the best reward for cleaning up that rubbish… It’s amazing.”
Jordan and 17-year-old Ryan planned to visit Geoffrey in order to reunite the medal with the retired officer, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
Maureen said, “We were heartbroken when we came home and found our house burgled. They had stolen jewelry, cash, and our passports, but the most sentimental thing we lost was Geoffrey’s police service medal.”
She continued saying, “When I told Geoffrey about the medal being found, his little eyes sparkled. My husband has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t remember everything—but that medal to say he served for 32 years, he does remember.”
“His face lit up when I told him we got it and it was going to be presented to him by the young man who found it” she recounted.
Jordan stated that “Finding the medal after doing the good deed we did, that’s the message here.”
