A family fulfilling a sailor’s dying wish of sending his prosthetic leg out to sea had hoped it would end up in sunny Ibiza, only for it to turn up just 30 miles away.
Michael Harris, who died in December at the age of 66, spent 20 years sailing around the world in the merchant navy.
He half-jokingly asked his three kids to take his prosthetic leg and send it out to sea after he died.
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Natalie, 41, Ricci, 35, and Daniel , 43, took the request seriously and cast the leg away from Michael’s hometown of Lydney, Gloucestershire, on January 19, hoping it would end up in Ibiza.
(Image: Natalie Denning / SWNS)
But so far, their dad’s leg has only travelled 30 miles after it washed up on a beach near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
While Natalie attached a note to the leg, they didn’t expect to hear about it again so soon and they were “shocked” it had washed up.
She said: “I didn’t think we’d hear anything about it so soon but when my brother messaged saying it had been found, I was shocked.
Natalie said that a marine biologist who stumbled across the beached leg in Weston told her it would take the leg a month to go beyond the Severn Estuary in the west of England as the tide keeps dragging it back in.
(Image: Natalie Denning / SWNS)
She said that her and her family have found the whole situation funny, adding: “It’s been so lovely and I hope to god it keeps going as it’s made people smile”.
Michael had his prosthetic leg fitted after his leg was amputated in 2017 because of a circulation problem.
Natalie said the idea for her dad’s prosthetic leg to end up in Ibiza came as her brother Daniel was driving their dad from a radiotherapy session: “As they were driving home he said he’d always wanted to go travelling again and so rather comically asked if we could send his leg round the world”.
(Image: Natalie Denning / SWNS)
She said that the hilarity has created a fond memory for all three of his kids.
“It’s kept him alive for us as well – we just hope it gets further than Weston”, she added.
“We’ve also said wherever it ends up we’ll definitely go out to visit as that’ll be hilarious”, she added.
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