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Guy Who Lost His Foot Finds Rare Item That Sells For $1.5m And Changes His Entire Life

Guy Who Lost His Foot Finds Rare Item That Sells For $1.5m And Changes His Entire Life

He saw an episode of 'Antiques Roadshow'.

Mark McGowan

Mark McGowan

It is odd to think that little things lying around your house could change your fortunes in life.

We often see that things from days gone by, like rare Pokémon cards, or wrestling action figures, could sell for a fair amount on eBay. Instantly that's enough to get you rummaging around your loft, hoping to come across a hidden gem.

Del and Rodney Trotter even became millionaires from a bit of junk they'd left lying around for 16 years. I knows that's fiction, but the point remains.

A man who was forced to live off $839 (£620) a month disability allowances, due to losing his foot, had a similar stoke of luck.

Credit: PBS/Antiques Roadshow

Known as 'Big L.T.' because he's 6'7", he lost the lower half of his left leg, putting him out of work. However, after watching Antiques Roadshow, which we're all guilty of doing when we've got a day off, he spotted something that could help him out.

He saw a rare hand-woven Navajo blanket worth between $350,000 to $500,000 on the show, and he realised he had something similar that had been passed down through his family.

He decided to seek out a local antiques expert to find out how much his item might be, finding out that the Navajo First Phase Weaving Blanket was indeed real, and he was told it was worth somewhere in the region of $50,000.

Even though that was enough to get his pulse racing and have dreams of a nice holiday away, after fibres from the blanket were sent away, it came back that it could be worth $100,000 to $200,000.

There was just one more stage - the auction. In true Only Fools and Horses fashion it turned out that the minimum of $100,000 was nothing but chump change, as it ended up going for $1.5 million.

Through a daze of confusion and tears, Big L.T gives his missus a big smooch as they realised their lives had changed.

Got to love it. Now go and search your shed, garage, loft and basement to see what you can sell at an auction.

Featured Image Credit: PBS/Antiques Roadshow​