A man who was set to say goodbye to his mum for the last time wants to thank two teenagers who helped to make it possible.
Marius Geurts broke down in tears when he realised he had lost his phone on Stanley Road in Bootle on Sunday.
The 43-year-old was due to fly out to Holland two days later to see his 62-year-old mum, who is receiving end of life care.
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But he feared he wouldn't be able to go after losing his phone which had his boarding passes and coronavirus vaccine certification on.
Marius' partner, Terri Angela Gallagher, told the ECHO: "[Our] baby kicked his shoes and socks off outside Cash Converters and as he bent down to pick the shoes and socks up it must have fell out of his pocket.
"The baby was crying and there was busy traffic on Stanley Road so he's not heard it drop on the floor.
"He was so upset when he got home. He was crying because obviously he thought he couldn't go [to Holland].
"He said 'I've lost my phone and it's got all my tickets on."
Terri said Marius' family had spent around £370 on two one-way tickets to Amsterdam for Marius and their 19-month-old son to flyover at the last minute to see his mum, whose final wish was to see her grandson for the last time.
She said: "She made a bucket list and she said the last thing on the list was to see her grandchild - our little boy."
After Marius returned home without his phone on Sunday, Terri said she rang it and two "young lads" answered.
They arranged to meet Marius across the road from McDonald's on Stanley Road and returned the phone to him.
Terri said: "They even tried to go through his phone to look for emergency contacts.
"We're just so thankful to them for returning the phone and being honest.
"Marius said it's not about the phone - it's the tickets. We're pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to go [to Holland] without it."
Terri hopes she can track the lads down to thank them for returning the phone and reward them for their kindness.
She shared what happened in a lost and found group on Facebook, with the post receiving over 600 likes.
In a comment on the post, one woman wrote: "So lovely young lads more get bad press than they deserve well done gentlemen."
Another woman said: "Great lads from a great city! Liverpudlians are great!"
While a third added: "Fantastic, well done lads, come on Liverpool let's find them!"
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