WHAT would you do if you found £20 on the floor? Or a discarded wallet in the park?
Well for a Moldgreen teenager there is only one option – he tries to find the owner and hand it back.
Over the past two weeks, Chris Jones has reunited two people with their purses – one belonging to an 80-year-old woman who had been mugged.
For Chris, 19, who has autism, it’s the only choice.
His dad Simon said that over the last year Chris has found dozens of purses while indulging his passion for wildlife.
Many had been thrown into bushes by thieves who had taken the cash out of them.
And once, when he found £20 at school and attempted to give the money back to its rightful owner, the child’s parent told him to keep the cash as a reward for his honesty.
Simon said: “His honesty is a mile wide.
“He’s a student, so he could do a lot with £20, but it’s never a question for him.”
On Tuesday afternoon Chris was at Greenhead Park watching the wildlife when he spotted a purse which had been thrown into the water.
He fished it out with a stick and, with his dad’s help, managed to trace its owner.
It belonged to an 80-year-old woman who had been mugged. The thief had taken out the cash but thrown everything else away.
Simon added: “She gave him a box of chocolates as a reward and he was made up.”
A week earlier he found a purse which had been dropped by its owner, to whom he returned it.
Simon said: “I’d say over the last year or so he’s found several dozens. They tend to get thrown in parks or bushes where he’s watching the wildlife so he spots them.”
Chris is a student at Huddersfield Technical College where he learns life skills.
He attended Almondbury High School and Longley High School and lives in Moldgreen with parents Simon and Elisabeth and his five siblings.
His dad added:
“It’s a great quality to have, he’s got a heart as big as you can imagine and I hope it helps.”
