Irish airline is forced to apologise for losing a man’s ashes as his family boarded a flight from Tasmania to Ireland for his memorial service
- Bob Gilmour flew from Australia to Ireland to scatter his parents ashes this week
- When the family arrived in Dublin the bag containing the ashes was missing
- His parents Sam and Marjorie wanted their ashes scattered where they grew up
A son was left devastated after luggage containing his parent’s ashes went missing in transit.
Bob Gilmour and his wife and two children flew from Australia to Ireland with the intention of scattering his parent’s ashes.
However, when the family arrived in Dublin from Milan this week, the bag containing the ashes did not.
(Left to right) Bob Gilmour, Declan Gilmour, Kristen Hynes and (front) Sarah Gilmour travelled from Australia to England to scatter the ashes
Sam Gilmour was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and his mother Marjorie was born in Birmingham, England
The ashes had been placed in zip-lock bags and stored inside a container and placed in the suitcase.
‘At first we weren’t too worried because we had heard lots of stories about people losing their bags and then getting them back within 24 hours,’ Mr Gilmour told ABC.
‘But then the time started to drag on.’
Mr Gilmour’s father Sam Gilmour was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and his mother Marjorie was born in Birmingham, England.
The pair, who met during the Second World War, emigrated to Australia in 1967 but never really let go of their roots, Mr Gilmour said.
‘Their wishes were simple, they wanted to come home,’ Mr Gilmour said.
Sam Gilmour (right) and Marjorie (left) met during the Second World War and emigrated to Australia in 1967
Bob Gilmour with his bag that was returned after it had gone missing for several days on an Aer Lingus flight from Milan to Dublin
The family spent four days stressing as they had planned a memorial in Ballymena on Wednesday.
Thankfully, the bag arrived just hours before the memorial was scheduled to start.
‘It was a complete relief… It’s a long way to come to lose the reason that you came,’ he told AP.
The family will now travel to Birmingham to scatter Marjorie’s ashes, however this time the family will keep the remains in their hand luggage.
It later emerged the bag containing Mr Gilmour’s ashes had not been loaded onto the Aer Lingus flight by baggage handlers at Malpensa Airport.
Aer Lingus has apologised for the error.
The family will now travel to Birmingham to scatter Marjorie’s ashes, however this time the family will keep the remains in their hand luggage