In a heartening story perhaps proving that banks for all their faults still have some uses, the GNR have helped a confused elderly man recover life savings of €38,000 which he had buried in a plastic bag on a stretch of agricultural land.
The 71-year-old recently suffered an accident with his tractor (it toppled over, narrowly missing crushing him) and “became confused”, reports Correio da Manhã.
Days later and “needing money” – possibly to pay for treatment or medication for his injuries – he went to his land in Santa Comba Dão and started digging.
Shock set in when he couldn’t find the bag of money.
The man went to his local police station to complain he had been robbed, and then realised perhaps it wasn’t that at all.
Fortunately for him, the GNR appeared to have time on their hands and so dispatched a team of agents with implements to start excavating.
The end result was a pensioner crying tears of joy, a GNR station with an unusual story to tell – and a bank suddenly presented with a wad of rather earthy-smelling cash to put onto deposit.
