Terminally Ill American Forgives Venice Pickpocket In Open Letter

BRUSH PRAIRIE, WA — The pickpocket artist in Venice, Italy, could have ruined what is likely the last trip a retired Brush Prairie, Washington, police officer with terminal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma will take with his wife of 23 years. The thief lifted the wallet from Michael Veley’s pocket, leaving him and his wife, Kanako, with neither money nor credit cards.

Veley’s open letter to the thief, published in a Venice newspaper, brought an outpouring of support from Venetians, who offered them money and lodging. The city’s mayor offered to pay for a hotel room and a heart surgeon even said the couple could stay in his home. They were unable to take anyone up on the hospitable offers because they had to fly home for a chemotherapy treatment.

The Veleys had looked forward to the trip for months. They had already visited family in Germany and arrived in Venice on July 14. When he reached for his wallet at a train station to pay for boat tickets to San Marco, he realized it was gone.

“I became a victim of a common problem in Venice,” Veley told NBC News in a phone interview.

“I was very angry of course in the beginning. We just wanted to have a wonderful memory of what would possibly be our last trip together,” Veley told the network. “I began to pray about it, I asked for God to help me with the anger.”

To deal with his indignation, Veley wrote the letter.

“To the person who stole my wallet,” he scrawled on a piece of paper he hoped police would duplicate and post in places where the thief might see it. He wrote:

“I know you probably won’t read this. And I know you may not care. We arrived in your beautiful city on 14 July at 14:00 by boat No. 1. I became your next victim. This is my last trip with my wife. I’m dying from cancer. You left me with no money and no credit cards. Imagine for only a moment what this does to your victim. I have been praying for forgiveness. I also pray for you. Turn away from your sin which hurts innocent people. I forgive you.”

Police told Veley they couldn’t distribute the letter around town, but suggested he send it to a regional newspaper, La Nuova Venezia.

“Maybe the officer was going to throw the letter in the garbage, I didn’t know what he would do with it,” Veley told NBC. “But it didn’t matter, I wrote it for me.”

He told NBC he’s overwhelmed by the response to his letter and said it sweetened what was a sour experience.

“The memory of this trip was initially ruined, but after writing this letter the memory has now gone from anger and frustration to joy,” he said.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images