Jim McDonnell's Christmas Carol: How a 15-minute walk turned into a 15-year absence (6 photos)

Lived a happy married couple, Jim and Ann, in Larchmont. McDonnell. Their more than 20-year harmonious marriage was overshadowed only by only minor quarrels. Everything was going well until that fateful day when Jim went out for a walk.





It must be said that the end of winter and the beginning of spring of 1971 for The 50-year-old postman did not have the best of luck. Man first I slipped awkwardly when I went out to take out the trash. Minor injury heads, it can happen to anyone. A week later, Jim sneezed while driving. car and hit his forehead against the glass quite well. After this the man became feel short bouts of weakness and dizziness, one of which ended in a minor accident - McDonnell drove into a pole and once again hit his head. I went to the hospital, but the doctors said nothing serious discovered.



Larchmont today

On March 29, a man borrowed a car from a friend: his own was still in repairs, and my wife’s relatives had to be taken to the airport. Dropped there was a wallet with documents inside, and when he discovered that it was missing, he I decided to go to a friend’s house to pick it up.

Where are you, Jim?



It took no more than 15 minutes to go there and back. minutes. An hour passed, but Jim did not return. Anxious, Ann panicked. I started calling family and friends. Nobody knew anything about husband's whereabouts.

In the morning, the woman contacted the police. After all, it's was further complicated by the fact that the spouse most likely did not have with him documents. The agonizing weeks of waiting dragged on. Anne couldn't find herself places, slept poorly, hardly ate. The only salvation was prayer (the spouses were Christian believers).

So spring, summer, autumn passed. Instead of Christmas As a gift, the unfortunate woman received a document declaring her husband dead. We walked years, but Anne did not lose faith. Somewhere in the depths of my soul a glimmer of hope smoldered, that my husband will definitely return.

New old life



Just before Christmas 1985, a woman heard a bell ringing. door. Standing on the threshold was Santa Claus, an elderly man with a gray beard. Peering at the guest, Ann realized that it was her Jim - older, but so same beloved. With whom they had not seen for 15 long years.

What happened to McDonnell? A man's first memories associated with Philadelphia, which is located at a distance from Larchmont 150 kilometers. He didn't remember anything. The glance came across an advertising real estate agent poster. And the one who lost his memory decided to call himself James Peters, the name of the man on the poster.

He was afraid to ask for help, fearing that he had committed something bad and they might be looking for it. Wandered and begged while on the way the good Samaritan, the church minister, did not meet. Helped a homeless man received documents and got a job.



Together again

For a long time the man worked in a diner. Worked for conscience, his colleagues did not pester him with questions about the past. Life got better, and James even became a local activist - he worked charity and participated in children's parties as Santa.

One day Peters watched a story on TV about work postmen (and in a previous life he worked as a postman for a quarter of a century). AND Fragmentary pictures began to appear in my head. And before Christmas 1985 year happened... another fall and another blow, after which the man remembered everything. He jumped on the train and raced to Larchmont. What about his beloved Anne? Is she alive? What if you got married?



Newspaper note dated December 28, 1985

The woman’s happiness knew no bounds, because she believed so much in miracles, and a miracle happened. The examination showed that the man was quite healthy for of his age. The causes of amnesia and the return of memory remain the same a mystery. But this was no longer particularly important, because the couple’s house again happiness has returned.