A beloved pet goldfish won at a fun fair has outlived both its owner’s failed marriages.
Wayne Leach won Goldie for daughter Nancy, then aged two, during a game of hook a duck in Towyn, North Wales, in 2011.
They had not expected the bagged-up pet to live for very long but the 44-year-old recently realised the pet has now been alive for longer than both his marriages lasted, with the first 'failing' after three years and the second after nine.
Nancy, now 19, can't remember life without the 12-year-old fish and Wayne says he's had five different names, though he's forgotten the others.
The fish has now turned grey with age and has a 'gammy gill' but has survived two house moves and currently lives in a tank with a broken filter.
Dad-of-three Wayne, from Cardiff, Wales, said: "I didn't expect him to last this long.
“Typically, you're lucky if a funfair fish makes it back home. We never expected 12 years.
"I've been married for 12 years altogether and I had an epiphany my one goldfish has lasted longer than my two marriages. Goldie has lived in three properties, had five names and he was around before my son.
"He doesn't even have a filter in his tank now because it broke. It's just tap water and he gets fed every three or four days because that's all he needs.
“His gill on his left is wide open and one fin is smaller than the other so he didn't have the best start but he's doing something right.
"He's in a tank with no pump, on his own, not a lot of stimulation and he just keeps going.
“He's had about five names. Nancy kept renaming him. I can't remember them all, he's had that many."
Goldie has shared his tank with three other fish but Wayne says he killed them one by one by 'stressing them out'.
According to Wayne's research, Goldie is 106 in human years and he says it will be a sad day when his beloved pet passes away.
He added: "He's a tough cookie. I'm attached to him. I speak to him and he greets me.
"He's close to the kettle so when I get up in the morning he comes to life. He's like a dog.
“He's after attention and fuss. I give him a little sprinkle of food and he's good as gold.
"When he passes it will be a sad day. I don't think Goldie is replaceable."
