Lifelong friendship forms after balloon travels 500 miles from UK to Netherlands

02 October 2023 , 21:08

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The friends have been "connected for life" by the balloon landing (Image: Levi O'Malley / SWNS)

A balloon released by a ­grieving 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.”

The balloon which travelled more than 500 miles in 2021 (Levi O'Malley / SWNS)

Levi O'Malley with his sister, Scarlett who died in April 2021 (Levi O'Malley / SWNS)

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.”

The newly renamed Scarlett Rose tulips (Levi O'Malley / SWNS)

Levi released a memorial balloon in memory of his sister (Levi O'Malley / SWNS)

Kate and Levi are now planning to visit Pieter and Marisska in April next year when they will see the field where the balloon was found. Pieter said: “When I looked at the page I started to understand that the young woman had passed away and from that moment I couldn’t let it go. With tears in my eyes, I was reading through the messages of ­Scarlett’s mum, who sent me a little message pretty much every day.”

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Pieter visited Kate and Levi and returned the balloon, which left “everyone in tears”. Bricklayer Levi added: “It could have landed in the sea but it landed in a tulip field, in the most beautiful place, found by the most amazing family who had gone out of their way to get in touch.”

Stephen White