Elderly man was heartbroken when late wife's 20-year-old voicemail was erased. A 10-member crew raced to recover it
When a loved one passes away, the simplest things become priceless memories. A 68-year-old man named Stan Beaton lost his wife, Ruby, to cancer in 2003, BBC News revealed. The widower was heartwrenched and in his grief, comforting him was a voice recording of his wife’s greeting. The man went out of his way to hold onto the message and ensure it wasn’t lost, as it was a significant part of his wife he had left. Unfortunately, Virgin Media, a telecoms company, deleted it in a technical process. When they learned how much it meant to Beaton, they went above and beyond to restore it and surprise him with a voice he’d been longing to hear.
Beaton was able to keep the recording for over a decade after his wife’s passing. It wasn’t easy but he took great care to ensure there was never a chance to lose it. “I've always resisted changing companies because whenever I mentioned that my wife's voice was our voicemail message and would it be retained, each company said no, so that's why I never changed,” he recalled. He recounted listening to his late wife every day through the voicemail and finding solace in it when he was low. Unfortunately, years later, while the grieving man was still looking forward to hearing the recording each day, it was deleted by Virgin Media.
"Sadly, it disappeared. I was absolutely devastated by it, but also extremely angry,” he remarked. That’s when the company heard of his heartbreaking dilemma. Rob Evans, executive director of engineering at Virgin Media, was determined to do something to get back his treasure. However, this was easier said than done. He explained that finding the voicemail was as good as “searching for a needle in a haystack.” Taking up the challenge ahead of them, around 10-11 members got to work. "The chances of its recovery were slim,” Evans pointed out. They worked hard and as fate would have it, Beaton once again had a chance to hear his wife.
BBC Radio Leeds decided to surprise the man with the audio, CBS News revealed. As soon as Beaton heard it, he instantly knew something had returned to him. "That's her," he exclaimed as his voice broke and his eyes sparkled. “Sorry, at the moment Stan and Ru are not available but if you please leave your phone number and your name, we will get back to you as soon as possible,” Ruby’s soothing voice said in the message. "I'm staggered at the lengths they have gone to. It's just a wonderful, wonderful sound that I thought was lost forever,” Beaton remarked. He wiped his profuse tears as his smile grew wider, knowing that a part of his wife was back with him.
He was baffled to learn that the company had invested so much time and skilled people into a project to get back what was dear to him. Extremely grateful for their kindness, he tearfully said, "They've made this old age pensioner extremely happy.” @NeilRoy commented, “Very nice, this sort of thing really impresses me when companies go out of their way to right a wrong like this. Too awesome.” @deborahcorrea4501 said, “His heart was filled. The sound of her voice bought him happiness.” @FaresA123 added, “Awesome gesture! So adorable and lovely.”