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• Daniel Hughes was kayaking recently in the Ohio River in Maysville, Kentucky, when a bright yellow object tangled in debris on the riverbank caught his eye, KDKA-TV reported.
Upon closer inspection, Hughes discovered that the object was a helmet -- specifically a firefighter helmet with markings identifying it as property of the Franklin Park Fire Department in Pennsylvania, some 422 miles away.
The helmet had an ID card still attached, and when Hughes shared photos to the Franklin Park FD Facebook page, Chief Bill Chicots got in touch and shared the whole story.
"The helmet belonged to Dave Vodarick, he's been a member of our fire department since 1974; he lost the helmet during a water rescue in October 2019," Chicots said.
The rushing water failed to sweep Vodarick away three years ago, but it succeeded in ripping off his helmet, and efforts to find it had come up empty.
The well-traveled helmet is set to return to Franklin Park, where it will be displayed in the fire department's trophy case. [KDKA-TV, 6/15/2022]