A Los Angeles taxi driver who reunited an absent-minded passenger with $350 000 in diamonds that he left behind has now received his reward — $10 000 and a diamond bracelet.
Driver Haider Sediqi, an Afghan immigrant, said the man’s thank-you note meant just as much to him.
”The guy, he said I changed his life,” said Sediqi (40), a father of two young boys with a third child on the way, The Daily Breeze newspaper reported on Wednesday. ”That’s very important.”
New York jeweller Eric Austein left the diamonds in Sediqi’s cab on November 16 when he got out at Los Angeles International airport.
Sediqi tracked him down through a cellphone bill he found inside the bag.
Austein promised Sediqi a reward, but the driver said he didn’t think much about it — until it arrived a few days ago.
Sediqi said he considered using the money to pay off credit-card debt but decided to put it in a bank account to help pay for his children’s schooling.
He gave the bracelet to his wife, Nasima, who had assured him he did the right thing in returning the diamonds. — Sapa-AP