What to Know
- A woman got an early Christmas miracle after she left her purse on a busy subway train in Manhattan, but was later reunited with it
- Ashley Patrick's purse held her wallet, cash, credit cards and new winter gloves for her son when she left it on a Q train
- After 4,000 retweets and 16,000 likes, the holiday magic worked and a man who found the bag returned it with everything still inside
A woman got an early Christmas miracle after she left her purse on a busy subway train in Manhattan, but was later reunited with it — thanks to some help from social media.
Ashley Patrick had just gotten off a southbound Q train at Herald Square on Monday when she realized her purse — which held her wallet, cash, credit cards and new winter gloves for her son — was still on board. But the train doors had already closed, and she was nervous she would never get her crucial possessions back.
Patrick sent out a tweet in desperation, hoping maybe someone would see it and be able to help her.
“I just left my purse on the Q headed downtown. It has my wallet headphones and my son’s new gloves,” the tweet read. “My husband just lost his job and there’s no way I can replace the things that were in it. If there was ever a time for an Xmas MTA miracle, this is it.”
I just left my purse on the Q headed downtown. It has my wallet, headphones, and my son's new gloves. My husband just lost his job, and there's no way I can replace the things that were in it. If there was ever a time for an Xmas @MTA miracle, this is it.
— Ashley Patrick (@akepatronyak) December 2, 2019
The mother-of-three told NBC New York she didn’t expect there to be nearly as big of a reaction to her message as there was. “I’d never had more than a handful of friends, and friends of friends, engage with a tweet,” she said.
More than 4,000 retweets and 16,000 likes helped spread the message of Patrick’s missing bag. Late Monday night, the holiday magic worked and a man who found the bag returned it to Patrick’s husband on the Upper East Side, with everything she lost still inside.
Patrick was overwhelmed at the response, especially from those who answered her tweet and even offered to pay for her items if the bag didn’t turn up.
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“So much thanks to the man who found my bag, with my belongings on it,” said Patrick. “It was really kind of him.”
Perhaps it’s even more surprising considering the latest crime numbers to come out from the MTA.
Stats show that while overall crime is down 3 percent in the subways, robberies are up more than 11 percent. Misdemeanor assaults are up 11 percent, sex crimes up almost three percent and spitting incidents are up more than 28 percent — with the majority of those coming against MTA employees.