Years later, and Romy still proudly shares the story of how a stranger named Chancy saved her birthday from sure disaster. After Romy left her purse atop her car and drove off, it was Chancy’s kindness that saved both her belongings and the day:
Johannesburg, South Africa (24 January 2025) — We all have that one birthday we’ll never forget. Sometimes, it’s for reasons that seemed disastrous at the moment and later became silly stories. Other times for reasons that touched our hearts. But for Romy Dijkman, the birthday she celebrated in 2021 remains memorable for a different reason. It was the day that Chancy’s kindness became the most valuable gift she received.
On 12 October that year, Romy took a day off to celebrate her birthday. What started with happy morning coffees and time with friends quickly changed tone after Romy realised her purse was missing.
“While packing [the gifts] into my car, I must have unconsciously placed my purse on the roof—and completely forgotten about it.”
When arriving at her next stop—the mall to meet her mother—Romy’s heart sank. She clocked that her purse was nowhere to be found, despite frantic phone calls to the coffee shop and home.
“It seemed my birthday was about to turn into a day of cancelling bank cars, renewing my driver’s license, and dealing with all the dreaded admin that comes with losing a purse.”
Then, something extraordinary happened on account of a hero named Chancy’s kindness.
“Just around lunchtime, everything changed. I got a call from my bank. A gentleman named Chancy Zulu had walked into a nearby branch with my card. Chancy explained to the teller that he’d been riding his scooter along the busy main road in Woodmead when he spotted a purse lying in the road, with its contents scattered across the street.
“Unlike countless others who likely passed by without a second thought, Chancy stopped his scooter, carefully picked everything up, and set out on a mission to reunite the purse with its owner,” Romy explains.
Chancy went on quite the mission indeed. He headed to the grocery store where a receipt had led him to find Romy, and when that failed, he went to her bank in hopes that they would find the owner.
Overwhelmed with relief to receive the call that her birthday would not be laced with a missing purse hunt any longer, Romy and Chancy met for the handover at a local police station.
Serendipity in full swing, Romy learned that the wonderful Chancy had also had a day off that day and was working as an Uber driver to earn extra income (his day job is at the BP Garage on Bowling Road). Despite being on the clock as a driver, he had still taken the time to stop, collect her belongings from the busy road, and go to great lengths to ensure their safe return.
“Chancy’s honesty, kindness, and dedication are unmatched,” Romy tells Good Things Guy. “To this day, I feel so fortunate to know him. I often stop by the BP Garage, where he has worked for the past six years—a testament to his loyalty and reliability.”
Despite the story happening years ago, Romy reminds us all that “good news, like good people, doesn’t have an expiration date.”
Romy adds:
“This story has stayed with me, and I will forever be grateful for what he did and for the chance to meet someone as incredible as Chancy. Honesty and loyalty may seem rare these days, but Chancy embodies both in abundance.”
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