Case is closed

By EMMA SUN
LOSING week’s worth of work on a final assessment is every student’s worst nightmare, so when Julia Shepherd left her folder on the train last Monday, she was panic-ridden.
To add salt to her already blistering wound, the folder belonged to her father, who died 17 years ago.
But in a lucky twist, Mount Evelyn good Samaritan Shaun Harper stumbled upon the folder and delivered it to her doorstep in Croydon Hills just over an hour later.
When Ms Shepherd realised she left her folder, which contained her final assessment for her midwifery course, on the 6.50pm Lilydale-bound train, she didn’t expect to get it back for at least a week.
So when Mr Harper arrived with the folder in hand, the relief she felt was unbelievable.
“I got home and had a meltdown, and started the procedure of trying to recreate everything that was in the folder,” she said.
“Just a smidge over an hour after I got home, I heard a knock on the door and I noticed it was a young man, but I barely saw him. All I could see was my document folder just coming towards me.
“It was like ‘oh my god’ – I actually thought maybe I was hallucinating at the time.
“I honestly could not form words, which is unusual for me, but I could not believe that there it was right in front of me.
“He handed it over to me and I got really teary, I just had to go and give him a hug.”
But to Mr Harper, it didn’t seem like such a big deal.
The 31-year-old said when he noticed the folder sitting on a train seat, he went over to have a look and decided to return it, especially when he discovered the assignment in the folder was due two days later.
“I opened it and it had university assignment papers and the first page said it was due on the seventh, which was two days later,” he said.
“I’ve gone ‘Jesus Christ, that’s somebody’s assignment’.”
After flicking through the pages to find a name and some contact details, Mr Harper found Ms Shepherd’s address.
“Croydon Hills wasn’t too far from my house so I decided I should probably drop it back,” he said.
“(Ms Shepherd) and her mum both got a bit emotional, which I thought was a bit over the top, but when I found out it was her father’s case, it dawned on me about the sentimental value it had.”
Ms Shepherd said it was refreshing to see someone go out of their way to return a lost item and was touched by such a lovely gesture.
“It wasn’t necessarily the stuff inside – the folder itself was my dad’s and he used to use it in business decades ago so it was a nice little link that I’m using it at uni,” she said.
“(Mr Harper) could’ve just handed it to the station and be done with that but he made that extra effort and that random act of kindness was really lovely.
“He deserves to be congratulated on that.”
Mr Harper, who wasn’t doing it to gain any recognition, said he was just pleased a positive result came out of it and hoped his actions would be mirrored by others who encounter the same situation.
“I kinda like to think there would be people out there to do that for my daughters if something happens, like help them if they get lost or lose something,” he said.
“It was definitely a positive reaction for something that I didn’t think was that big of a deal.”