Cross held special memory
SINCE the age of seven, a Rockhampton woman has treasured a small cross that told a special story.
But last week, it was stolen from her North Rockhampton home along with other jewellery.
The woman, who does not wish to be identified, said it was not the value of the cross that mattered, but the beautiful tale behind it.
The woman, now 83, lived in Denison St during her childhood where her parents owned a local shop.
That is where the amazing story began.
"His name was Martin Kenny and he went to France in World War One," the woman recalled yesterday.
"While he was over there he was given a small cross by the nuns that he kept in his tobacco tin in his shirt pocket.
"He was hit with shrapnel which hit the cross and saved his life; it even had a little dent on it from where the shrapnel hit."
She said when he returned to Rockhampton from the war around 1937-38, she was about seven.
"He was made fun of by the other kids (her age) because he had been hit in the head with shrapnel and had a form of brain damage, but I told them not to make fun of him," she said.
In return, Martin gave the young girl his cross and told her the story.
"He never talked about anything that happened during the war except that story, so that cross was very special to me; I would always wear it to church," she said.
The woman is appealing to anyone with information about her stolen jewellery to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
