For Marcie Callawaert, finding her wallet was more shocking than losing it.
Last June, she was getting into a boat near her home on a remote island near Tofino when she heard a sickening sound.
“I didn’t zip the pocket on my backpack that the wallet goes into, and I heard the splash when I got into my boat,” she told CHEK News on Thursday.
Borrowing some quick cash from a friend was a quick fix to pay for the takeout food she’d ordered, but replacing the ID and cards in the wallet was a task nobody wants to undertake. Callawaert tried everything to get it back.
“I had a diver go look to save me some peace of mind,” she said.
Callwawaert’s TikTok account boasts more than 47,000 followers and she posts regularly about off-grid life in the coastal paradise she and her husband called home.
In June she recorded a video to TikTok chronicling the saga of the lost wallet, and eight months later she held out hope it would still wash up.
Callawaert takes daily walks on the beach with her three dogs, and regularly cleans up plastics and debris that come in with the tide. On Wednesday, during one of those walks, some coastal karma kicked in.
The wallet reappeared, sandy but intact.
“I knew right away,” she says. “It stopped me right in my tracks.”
Callawaert picked up the phone to record the find. “I’d already filmed it and posted it [to TikTok] eight months ago, so I might as well post the update because no one is going to believe me,” she said with a laugh.
There was only about $20 cash in the wallet, but her cards and ID were all there – and remarkably preserved despite spending eight months at the bottom of the ocean. The wallet held up as well.
“The only damage is that the zipper was corroded,” she said.
Her TikTok videos have gone viral before, but not to this degree. One post about marine life amassed more than 8-million views from 2022. The wallet video has almost 4-million in less than 24 hours, and Callawaert’s phone won’t stop buzzing.
“I’ve had to turn off notifications,” she said.
Reaction online has been mostly positive.
“I’ve got a lot of people asking me to share my good karma with them,” she laughed, but there are some accusing her of plotting a deep fake. “There’s a small percentage that doesn’t believe me. Some people just can’t accept a good news story.”
@marciecjohn I can NOT believe what washed up on shore. My goof Karma for cleaning up the rope and plastic? #offgrid #salvage #protectwhatyoulove #marinedebris #vancouverisland #tofino
Jordan Cunningham
