A GRIEVING husband whose wife died on New Year’s Day was devastated after he lost precious photos of her, before compassionate social media users saved the day.

John Cromar’s wife Tracey tragically died aged 59 in the early hours of January 1 after breaking her neck falling down the stairs of their home.

John, who had kept photos of her in his wallet, was left distraught when he lost it travelling by train to his niece’s home in Rayleigh on Sunday.

The wallet also contained photos of his deceased father, also called John, his uncle Robert, who was shot dead in an east London pub about 20 years ago, and another niece, Amy, who was run over and killed by a drunk driver in 1989.

Echo:

John and Tracey

“He was so upset when he lost the wallet as he had it for more than thirty years and hasn’t taken those photos out once, bless him,” niece Terri Harrison explained.

“It’s so tragic, the unfortunate circumstances in which they have died, so the photos really meant a lot to him, the one of his uncle was the only photo he had of him.”

Echo:

The lost wallet

The pair spent the whole of Sunday looking for the wallet, but without any luck.

Terri promised her dejected uncle she would resume the hunt on Monday morning, but when she woke the next day she received a message on Facebook saying the wallet had been found.

“A lovely lady who works at Queen’s Hospital had put a post on a Hockley Facebook group that had gone viral and had been shared more than 600 times, so we set up a meeting,” Terri said.

Echo:

Amy

“John was just ecstatic, he was crying with happiness that he had this wallet back that he still had his cherished photos.

“It just shows how lovely people can be that so many went out of their way to share it and try and find him. It was a little miracle.”

Echo:

Robert (right)

She added: “My aunt Tracey worked with children for the NHS so we have set up a GoFundMe page for the Great Ormond Street hospital in memory of her.”

The family has raised almost £3,000 in her name so far.

To donate, visit; https://www.gofundme.com/f/tracey-cromar-memorial-fund?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer