Barnsley man released from intensive care after recovering coronavirus is reunited with stolen war medals

The war veteran, who does not want to be named, had his medals stolen when his family home near Barnsley was burgled in January.

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While an investigation into the break-in was launched, the former serviceman, who was with The Light Dragoons for 22 years, contracted coronavirus and ended up in intensive care.

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Shortly after he was discharged after beating the virus, he was informed that his military medals had been found.

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They were discovered by a dog walker at the side of a road near to Eggborough power station in North Yorkshire on Thursday, April 9.

That same day, a North Yorkshire police officer returned to the area and discovered further items, including a small jewellery box containing a number of baby teeth, and a commemorative coin stating ‘Paige’s 1st teeth’, which belonged to the war veteran’s daughter.

After North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal for anyone who recognised the items to come forward, a relative made contact with the force in less than two hours.

The owner of the medals said: “I am over the moon as I did not expect to see my medals again – they mean so much to me as they represent my 22 years of service with The Light Dragoons.”

Police investigator Dave Pegg added: “It was an incredible find by both the dog walker and one of our officers and within minutes of us sharing the appeal on Facebook, I was inundated with emails offering helpful advice on how we could help to identify the owners of the medals.

“It’s one of the best parts of the job being able to reunite victims of burglary with their belongings, especially when they are as irreplaceable and sentimental as a set of medals.

“I’d like to give a big shout out to the fantastic community spirit and brotherhood of The Light Dragoons as the vast majority of people who got in touch were either serving or veteran Dragoons.”