Levi O’Malley released a balloon in memory of his sister with a note asking for whoever finds it to get in touch and was amazed when she heard from someone 500 miles away
A balloon released by a Âgrieving brother drifted 500 miles before landing in a tulip field where a special relationship blossomed.
Levi O’Malley’s sister Scarlett, 27, died in April 2021. The 33-year-old released the balloon with a note asking whoever found it to message a  Facebook page called Here I Am set up by nursery worker Scarlett. It was discovered a week later by tulip farmer Pieter Burger in Valkkoog in the Netherlands, who messaged the page. He and wife Marisska were put in contact with Levi and his mum Kate, 56, and they have been in touch ever since.
Levi said: “I didn’t think anyone would ever find it. A lot of her friends wrote messages on the balloon. It could have landed in the sea or made it 10 miles down the road and then popped.”
Pieter and Marisska were so touched by Scarlett’s story they named a new species of tulip after her. Levi, of Blackburn, Lancs, continued: “We’ve been in contact with their family for two years. They’ve sent over hundreds of tulip bulbs for us to plant in Scarlett’s schools and around the homes of family members, as well as in Australia where Scarlett and I used to live. We plant them in November and they bloom in April which is when Scarlett’s birthday is.”