A PENSIONER has lost his life savings of £17,000 after he donated a sofa forgetting he had hidden the cash inside.
The man has issued a desperate plea to find the buyer and has even offered a reward, hoping to retrieve part of the money.
The pensioner, from Queensland, Australia, decided to donate the leather sofa when he was about to undergo a renovation to his house.
The man was planning to sell his house and downsize so he thought he’d get rid of the sofa, which was part of a set of five.
While he knew he had stashed his life savings between the cushions of a sofa, he thought it was in fact one of the pieces he was keeping.
“I didn’t even think about it for a few weeks. It wasn’t on my radar,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
The man has been desperately trying to locate the sofa but to no avail.
After contacting the shop he donated it to, he discovered the sofa was sold within a couple of days and picked up- making it impossible to track down the buyer.
The pensioner said: “I think the bit that really hurts is that I’ve done this to myself, and I can’t believe how bloody stupid I was, honestly.
“I really did have to stop and say, ‘You’re human, you made a mistake, if you don’t repeat it you’ve learned a valuable lesson — and an expensive one.
“I’ll move on. It just hurts.”
He has even made a post online offering a reward, hoping he might recover some of his cash.
He added: “If I get a portion back, I’ll be happy. But I think it’s gone.
“There are a lot of people in dire need. Maybe it’ll transform someone’s life.”