Bag returned to student 1 month after being lost by Air Canada
'I’m kind of safe for the winter again, I don’t have borrow things from my friends anymore'
A visiting student from Brazil who was without his luggage for a month after it was lost by Air Canada in January says it was finally returned to him Sunday.
Henrique Alves de Assis travelled to Toronto from his home in Brasilia after winter break to study at OCAD University.
"I had a connecting flight through Chicago. And that was the last time I saw my bag," Alves de Assis told CBC Toronto last week.
At the time, Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said the company was in the process of searching for Alves de Assis's bag and would be in touch with him.
Alves de Assis was able to get through the wintry month with the help of friends who loaned him their clothes, but says he made the mistake of leaving his laptop in his bag — without having backed up his work.
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But on Sunday morning, he says an Air Canada official called him around 8 a.m., letting him know his bag had been mislabelled.
A few hours later, it was dropped off at his door with everything intact inside.
"I'm really happy," Alves de Assis told CBC Toronto on Sunday. "I'm kind of safe for the winter again, I don't have borrow things from my friends anymore."
He says he still hopes to be compensated for essentials like socks and underwear that he had to buy while his bag was missing, and will be following up with the airline for that.
One thing is for sure, he says: "I would never put my computer inside my bag again."