Grieving brother 'connected for life' to couple after balloon for sister ends up 500 miles away

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A grieving brother has said he is 'connected for life' to a Dutch couple who discovered the balloon that he released in memory of his tragic sister 500 miles from where he let it go.Levi O'Malley, 33, released a memorial balloon in memory of his sister Scarlett, 27, who passed away in April 2021.

Attached to the balloon was a note, which asked whoever found it to message a Facebook page called 'Here I Am' - a self-help page Scarlett had created.Surprisingly, the balloon travelled 500 miles and it was discovered a week after it was released by tulip farmer Pieter Burger in a field in Valkkoog in the Netherlands.

Pieter then messaged the page and he and his wife Marisska were put in contact with Levi and Scarlett's mum Kate, 56.The two families have been in contact ever since but Levi said he 'didn't think' this would happen when the balloon was released.He said: "I didn't think anyone would ever find it, I didn't really think anything of it.

A lot of her friends wrote messages on the balloons."It's just a crazy story that this one balloon managed to find its way to Holland.