In this image taken from Polsat TV video, a man holds a balloon he found in Troszkowo, Poland, Tuesday Sept. 10, 2019. A young English woman has been surprised after she released a helium balloon in Birmingham earlier this month to commemorate the anniversary of her father鈥檚 death. The balloon ended up traveling more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers), crossing land and sea to land in a field in northern Poland. (Polsat TV via AP)
BIRMINGHAM, England 鈥� An English woman released a helium balloon into the sky over Birmingham, England, to commemorate the anniversary of her father鈥檚 death.
She had no idea it would travel more than 1,700 kilometers (1,000 miles), crossing land and sea to end up days later in a field in northern Poland, where a farmer found it and was moved by the gesture of a grieving daughter.
鈥淪ometimes when I speak to my dad, I look up into the sky. So the balloon, I hoped it would travel up there to him,鈥� Nicola Bowler, a nurse, said. 鈥淢y dad wasn鈥檛 very well-traveled. He didn鈥檛 go very far. So to see how far this has traveled would mean loads to him. He鈥檇 be laughing at all this.鈥�
Bowler and her husband released a number of standard small helium balloons on September 2 along with one special star-shaped balloon that said 鈥淎lways missed but never forgotten Dad / Derek, 26 Apr 50 鈥� 02 Sep 2018.鈥� On a whim, she put another message with her phone number on the other side of the balloon: 鈥淧lease text me to see how far my dad has traveled. Nicola.鈥�
The balloon got caught immediately in trees surrounding the cemetery where Derek Wood, who died at the age of 68 from cancer, now rests. Bowler鈥檚 husband coaxed it out and it moved onward. She never thought the balloon would make it very far at all.
But travel it did, all the way to Troszkowo, a village located in an area of northeastern Poland dotted with lakes where farmer Radoslaw Gach found it lying on the ground near his home, not far from where his cows graze.
鈥淚t made me feel a bit sad and a bit happy that the daughter remembers her father and on the anniversary of his death releases such information,鈥� he said. He texted the number, taking Bowler by surprise.
鈥淪omebody texted me saying 鈥榶our dad has travelled to this village鈥� that I can鈥檛 even pronounce in Poland and initially I thought 鈥極h my God that鈥檚 amazing鈥� and then I thought, 鈥業s somebody pulling my leg, just saying that鈥�,鈥� Bowler told The Associated Press in an interview from the cemetery in Birmingham, where her father鈥檚 grave is covered in flowers.
鈥淪o I actually googled the number that I received the text (from) and it actually was in Poland,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 actually believe how far the distance was and if it鈥檚 possible for a balloon to travel that far.鈥� /kga