Man Walks 1400km To Get Home After Having Wallet Stolen
by Beth on Saturday, September 7, 2013
by Beth on Saturday, September 7, 2013
While the man’s journey was certainly epic, netizens can’t help but point out that the should have just contacted the police or made a phone call to someone using some of the 2000 yen [approx. $20] he had hidden in his shoe…
From Yomiuri Shimbun:
Man Has His Wallet Stolen in Fukuoka; Makes It Home To Sendai By Himself After 11 Days
On September 5, a male company employee (25) from Taihaku ward, Sendai, who had gone missing in Fukuoka at the end of August returned home to Sendai by foot.
A distance of approximately 1,400 kilometres separates Sendai and Fukuoka. The man, who took 11 days to make it home, says that “I panicked when I had both my wallet and mobile telephone stolen on the street in Fukuoka, but I’m so glad I made it home”.
According to the man, after he missed his flight on August 25, his mobile phone battery died. He searched for an internet cafe so that he could spend the night in Fukuoka. At around 10pm that night, the man was threatened by around 5 men on the street, who said “Give us your wallet and your phone”, so he put down his wallet and phone, saw a gap, and escaped.
After that, he slept rough as he headed back towards Sendai. “I bought bread and water with the 2000 yen that I had hidden inside my shoe, and endured the hunger”.
At just past 7pm on September 5, the man came back to the snack bar that his mother (46) runs in Iwanuma. Afterwards, his mother contacted the South Sendai division of the Miyagi Prefectural police. The man said “I never thought that there’d be such a big fuss over me. I’m so sorry to have caused everyone such trouble”.
The man’s mother cried as she saw her son, returning home with his skin deeply tanned from the sun. She expressed joy at his safe return: “I was so surprised, I thought a ghost had appeared. I’m so happy. And I’m deeply sorry for all the worry we’ve caused everyone”.
The man, whose hobby is card gaming, had left Sendai on August 23 to attend a national competition that was being held in Kitakyushu. Putting his precious cards in his shoulder bag, he brought them home safely.
