Danny Pizarro was all set to fly home from London when he realized he had made a big mistake.
There to visit his parents and friends, the England-born man, who lives in Victoria with his wife and daughter, had spent the last afternoon of his nine-day trip strolling down King’s Road – a touristy street lined with shops, cafes and restaurants.
After buying a gift for his daughter, the 51-year-old took shelter from the summer heat in a nearby pub, where, over a pint, he decided to check into his flight back to Victoria scheduled for the following day.
Inputting his information into the Air Canada app, Danny's day soured. To his shock, he discovered he'd brought his outdated permanent residency card to the U.K. Without his up-to-date ID, he'd have to spend hundreds of dollars re-booking his flight home.
“I was just like, 'Oh my God, I've picked up the old one.' That sinking feeling ... and panic set in,” he said. "I was with my mum that week, who'd been a bit ill, so this obviously made things even worse."
Danny quickly rang his wife, Kirsten Pizarro, who launched into action. In just a few minutes, she'd posted to an Oak Bay Facebook group, asking if anyone would be travelling to London in the next 24 hours.
The panicked message soon landed in the lap of Denise Harris Rees. As luck would have it, the woman's husband, Gareth Rees, a Canadian rugby star who played for a handful of English clubs, was set to travel to London that evening – part of a trip to raise funds for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
Within minutes, Gareth was on the phone arranging the logistics of the PR card hand-off. Just two hours later, Kirsten delivered the document, right in the nick of time for Gareth to leave for the airport.
Fast-forward 18 hours, Danny found himself in Heathrow Airport, hoping and hoping Gareth's plane would land before his was set to take off. Thankfully, it did, parking just one gate down from where Danny was set to board.
"When he docked, he was no more than 15 to 20 metres away from me. It was just hilarious," he said. "The Air Canada lady ... got the card from him and then walked back to where I was and handed me the card."
Danny managed to board his flight with just 10 minutes to spare.
“Everything from then on was just ... hunky-dory," he said. "Plus, they gave me an upgrade."
Thankful for Gareth's help, Danny was also thrilled with the outpouring of support he received online. Three others had even offered to take the PR card to him.
“It was interesting to see the response and obviously to get the help that turned out very tangibly and worked so amazingly,” he said. "It was great to see that support and that people will look out for you, whether they know you or not."
After the dust had settled, Danny made sure to boast on Facebook that his wife "can orchestrate faster international delivery than UPS, FedEx and DHL combined."
