California-based artist finds lost artwork with help of an Instagram post
California-based artist finds lost artwork with help of an Instagram post Image Credit: @amilliontinylines/ Instagram

Alyse Dietel, a 29-year-old artist from California's San Mateo, US, who goes by the name @amilliontinylines on social media, shares a heartwarming story where an airport employee helped her find a lost artwork while travelling from Iceland to Denmark.

Dietel forgot her artwork on a Copenhagen-bound flight. Later, she approached the airline for assistance. The artist apparently left a cardboard tube in the overhead bin containing sketches she made during her two-month stay in Iceland. The airline didn't respond promptly.

She then shared a post about her lost artwork on Instagram and hoped that the right person would miraculously see it and be able to help. Finally, her social media post helped Dietel to track down her commissioned artworks as the post was shared widely and landed on the feed of a helpful employee at the airport.

Taking the whole scenario to her Instagram, Dietel captions: "A feel-good internet story for y'all! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this happy ending by commenting, liking and sharing my post and story about it! You're the reason the algorithm showed my plea to the right person, go team!" She added, "Huge shout out to @irek_michal for finding and shipping my tube, talk about an everyday hero!!”

Irek Michal, an airport employee at the Copenhagen airport, replied to Dietel's post. He said: "I work at Copenhagen airport. Can check the lost and found tomorrow and ask my colleagues at Special Air Service." Soon, Michal tagged Dietel in his Instagram story and asked for her location so he could send the package. He shared the post saying, "I guess, mission accomplished @amilliontinylines. Where should I send it?"

Later Dietel shared the address and offered to pay him money for shipping. However, he refused it and requested her to donate the amount to charity. She then sent him homemade food and her artwork stickers.

Dietel donated the shipping amount to charity and shared it on her Instagram.

The Instagram video in which Dietel narrated the story of how she got her artwork back has acquired over 2.1 million views and over 3000 comments.

Emmy-nominated producer and TV host, Rachel Rudwall, commented on the video post: “What a beautiful story! Kudos to @irek_michal for showing up for another human being in this way. ❤️"

Instagram user @ arturo_equis wrote: "It amazes me how, deep in ourselves, we are not strangers to each other. We all are human; we live on the same planet, and we can communicate and create bonds. We are not strangers to each other. I thank both of you guys for being more human. We as a society will improve when we realise we are not strangers to each other."