Viral TikTok of abandoned mansion leads to incredible chance encounter
A viral TikTok that reveals unusual items found in an abandoned Melbourne home has led to a heartwarming chance reunion.
The 43-second clip was posted by an explorer who goes by the name @abandoned.aus in December, and quickly gained almost half a million views.
“I was exploring an abandoned mansion and found a secret door with a box inside. Here’s what I found inside the box,” a voiceover in the video says.
Inside the box, the explorer discovered Kodak film from 1963, vintage Shell oil, a "Welcome to Brisbane" booklet from 1961, an old Bible, medication, black-and-white photographs, letters and some school assignments.
TikTok users were excited about the vintage finds, posting hundreds of history facts in the comments.
“Pardeys Pharmacy, an iconic Geelong business, began in 1848! 173 years!” one TikToker wrote, referring to the label on the abandoned medicine bottle.
“That's a Gideon Bible. They used to hand them to us at primary school,” commented another.
“That letter is addressed to Geelong Grammar! I had a boyfriend I used to write to in Cuthbertson House. Wow!” added a third.
The abandoned mansion, which was located in Toorak in Melbourne, has since been demolished.
TikTok leads to one-in-a-million encounter
The viral TikTok led to an unexpected turn of events, after stills from the video helped provide a grieving widow with long-lost heirlooms.
Shortly after posting the TikTok, the account owner received an unexpected message on an associated Instagram account.
“Someone saw the TikTok, which showed a very old letter from an iconic school in Geelong, took a screenshot and posted it in a Facebook group,” the abandoned.aus account owner told Yahoo News Australia.
“Someone in Thailand saw it in the group and noticed one of their relatives in the photos, so they messaged me and gave me the contact details of the owner of the belongings in Melbourne.”
Uncovered items bring joy to grieving widow
The items were handed over to Juliet, whose husband's family owned the abandoned mansion.
“I was contacted on the second anniversary of my husband’s death with news that some items had been found,” Juliet told Yahoo News Australia.
Juliet said that since her husband grew up in the home, she was delighted to have the items returned, although it saddened her to see the state of the house in the video.
“My husband died suddenly and unexpectedly so it is lovely to have things linked to him turn up out of the blue.”
The abandoned.aus account owner was touched that the video has had such a heartwarming effect.
“There are so many abandoned houses and to think that I explore one and then I’m able to reunite the owner with these belongings - it’s shocking,” the explorer said.
“I’m so happy for them that they’re getting some meaningful items back.”
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