This woman was reunited with her lost purse containing $10K after losing it on the New York subway

Losing your purse is always an unfortunate occurrence. The loss of your IDs and credit cards is bad enough, but if you’re carrying a large amount of cash, the chances of getting it back are slim to none. However, thanks to the honesty of a good Samaritan, one woman in New York City got back her purse — containing $10,000 in cash — after losing it on a subway platform in December.

The woman was traveling to visit family back in Kazakhstan, where she is from. It is more difficult to take out cash there than it is in the United States, which is why she had such a large amount on her. When she realized she left her Chanel purse containing thousands of dollars on the platform, she was certain she’d never get it back.

Miraculously, Richard Taverna found the purse and brought it to the NYPD’s 20th Precinct the following day. Taverna says he never even considered not returning the purse and money to their rightful owner.

“It wasn’t mine. If someone lost $10,000, they’re probably going through a lot of distress,” Taverna told ABC 7 of his decision to turn the purse into the police.

Watch him talk about his selfless act in the clip from ABC 7 below:

The cops were extremely impressed by his helpful action and were able to give the purse to its owner when she returned from her trip in January. Through a translator, the woman expressed her immense gratitude for the stranger’s kindness, and she also gifted Taverna with a small trophy of a Kazakh symbol as a token of her appreciation.

While others were wowed by Taverna’s act of kindness, he remains humble and says he was simply doing the right thing.

“I think it is something most people would’ve done,” he told ABC 7. “I don’t think I did anything extraordinary.”

We’re so glad there are good people like Taverna out there!