A MEMORIAL in memory of a "one-in-a-million mum" which was swept away in the Storm Babet floods was miraculously found six-miles away.
Beth Staveley-Jones, of St Asaph, noticed her mum's memorial had disappeared on Saturday (October 21) when out on a walk with her dog Eddie. The weighty memorial, that features a carved pheasant, normally stands along the front of the river in St Asaph.
Feeling upset, Beth, 28, who is married to Harrison, issued a desperate appeal for its return on social media, in the hope it could be found.
Beth said: "I took to social media in the hope that we could find it but wasn’t hopeful as it could have been anywhere.
"Everyone was so lovely and supportive. The amount of message I received was truly overwhelming. People I have never met before reached out with hopeful messages and memories they have when they passed mums memorial and how it made them smile. It was very touching."
Beth's uncle Neil later received a phone call from a friend to say the memorial had been found.
"Not long after, we received several messages on social media with people notifying us too," Beth said.
"As soon as we received the initial phone call - my uncle Neil, family friend Nick, my husband, my cousin Macsen and resident of St Asaph, Martin, went to retrieve it and get it back to St Asaph.
"The memorial is quite weighty so the team of five made a makeshift sling to help carry it back to the trailer.
"The memorial was located near the harbour office in Rhyl, around 100 yards down the beach.
"We honestly couldn’t believe it had been found, let alone all the way in Rhyl. We were in complete shock."
Beth's mum Alison Watkins sadly died on May 3, 2017 at the age of 51 from a heart attack.
Her memorial was put in place thanks to the amazing community and kind people of St Asaph; The Cons Club held a fundraising event whereby all of the donations were put towards a permanent memorial to remember Alison described as a "dear friend" and their late chairperson.
"She was a beautiful person," Beth said.
"She would do absolutely anything for anyone. She would light up every room she walked into. She was devoted to her family and she was a one-in-a-million mum to me and my brother Tom.
"She was born and raised in St Asaph and just loved the people and city. She knew everyone and those who knew her only ever had a positive word to say about her.
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"We were all so relieved when the memorial was found and my tears of sadness turned into tears of laughter as this is now a story we can add to my incredible mum's legacy. She would have loved it."
Beth and her family have been in touch with the council who have kindly offered to help restore the memorial and anchor it down.
Beth added: "We will be returning it we will be and making sure it is extra secure, in the hopes it doesn’t make any other adventures in the future!
"I will feel great comfort seeing my mum's memorial back in its rightful place and I'd like to say a big thank you to all that reached out, sent supportive messages and lovely stories of my mum and her memorial and to those that are helping to return it to its rightful place."
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