Manchester, UK grandfather drops $1600 cash, strangers return it

Barry Eastwood, 54, a Salford, Manchester, grandfather, stumbled as he left the bank on Friday. The £1,000 cash ($1605 CAD) he had withdrawn to pay his car insurance blew away in a gust of wind.

"I fell flat on my face and looked up and saw all the money in the air flying about because a big gust of wind had taken it. I thought it had definitely gone," Eastwood told BBC News.

"I just saw loads of lads jumping up and grabbing the money and I thought, 'I've had it now.'"

To Eastwood's surprise, the people snatching up his cash were actually helping him collect his lost funds.

"I thought it had all gone but people kept coming up to me and saying, 'Here you are mate,'" Eastwood said.

"It was fantastic, I couldn't believe it."

When he returned to his car with the money, he counted £980 ($1574 CAD) — almost all of it. Before he drove away, a good Samaritan knocked on his window and handed him his passport and bank card, both of which he'd left on the road.

Eastwood says the incident restored his faith in humanity.

"It was absolutely brilliant, especially in this day and age," he told the Daily Mail. "It has given me a sense that all is not lost and that there is still some decency in this world."

He added, "Young people get a lot of stick nowadays, but this shows that many of them are decent and honest."