Moray dad’s heartfelt message in a bottle addressed to late daughter found 500 miles away in Norway
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A MORAY man’s heartfelt message in a bottle, written in tribute to his late daughter, has been found more than 500 miles away in Norway - eight months after it was sent.
Carl and Nicky Wilson’s daughter Lily died at just two months old in 2013 after she was born with an extremely rare genetic defect.
Lily died in the couple’s arms after they decided to “let her go” having been resuscitated on numerous occasions over the course of her tragically short life.
But Carl and Nicky are determined to keep Lily’s legacy alive and have done so by honouring her on August 13 (her birthday) every year.
They have marked the occasion each year by releasing helium balloons with letters attached to them or by launching a message in a bottle.
Last year was no different with Carl sending another message in a bottle from Findhorn into the Moray Firth on what would have been Lily’s tenth birthday.
Carl enclosed his phone number but, like the rest of the letters he has sent over the years, he did not expect to hear anything more about it.
That all changed, however, when he received a phone call from Norway last week.
Carl said: “When I saw the number I thought it was a scam or something.
“I just wrote what’s in my heart and all the things I would like to say to Lily but we don’t expect people to get in touch with us or find the messages.
“It’s just a very cathartic thing for us to do.
“But I answered the phone call because the company I work for has places in Norway and I recognised the area number.
“The person on the phone then asked me if I had put a letter in a bottle and straight away I knew it had been found.”
The bottle had been retrieved off the coast of Kristiansund in the north of Norway by a man called Per Gunnar Sørstrand while he was out on a boat trip.
It had been out at sea for 249 days before it was found.
He took the bottle home with him and upon reading the letter he was so moved that he started to tear up.
His wife Bianca reacted in the same way and before long the couple contacted Norwegian media outlets to share the powerful story.
“It’s so nice to see the affect that our story has had on complete strangers,” Carl said.
“I think what compelled them to get in touch with us is the fact that they have a daughter as well.
“It’s been good for both myself and my wife.
“My wife has just recently had breast cancer so this has lifted our spirits at what has been a really troublesome and worrying time.
“It sounds silly but it felt like my daughter was reaching out through this man in Norway to let us know things are going to be fine because none of the other bottles have been found so it was strange timing.”
Over ten years have passed since Lily’s tragic death.
But Carl says he and the family will continue to send letters every year to keep her memory alive.
“Our daughter was never going to live beyond a couple of months but she’s still a big part of our lives today,” Carl added.
“We’ll continue this for as long as we’re around and when we’re gone our other children will continue doing it in our place.
“In years to come, someone might find some of the other letters we send.”
