Man receives stranger’s blood sample instead of contact lenses in mix up

By Charlie Fenton and Eoin McCaul

A man was left baffled after opening a parcel to find a stranger's sample of blood inside - instead of the contact lenses he had ordered.

Josh Davies, 34, was in need of fresh set of daily lenses so bought a new prescription online from his usual supplier, Lenstore.

He said the package which arrived through the post appeared 'normal enough' but when he looked inside he was bemused to find a blood sample with a "biohazard" label.

Mystery surrounds how the specimen ended up in the box instead of the contact lenses as Josh says he had been given no explanation from the company.

Police control room officer Josh, from Astley Bridge, in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: “I ordered them on Friday and the package didn't arrive until Monday – which is a little unusual.

“The package looked the same as always, as you would expect, but when I opened it there were no contact lenses – inside was somebody’s blood sample.

“It’s really weird – I don’t understand how this has happened.

“I just don’t know how on earth I’ve received this from a contact lens company.”

Josh said he has been buying his contact lenses from Lenstore for the past three years and has never had issues in the past.

He said: “They’re a really good company to be fair – they have next day delivery and I’ve never had any problems.”

Josh ordered his lenses as usual on July 18, but said he had no idea of the “weird” discovery he was soon to make.

After receiving the package in the post two days late on July 21 inside was a plastic bag containing a small vial that appears to be filled with an unknown person’s blood.

Married Josh said that the package arrived as normal – except for a piece of tape sealing it – which he said usually isn't the case.

He added: "The box felt light but I thought nothing of it.

"When I opened it up and saw what was inside my jaw dropped and I was very confused to be honest.

"It completely threw me as it didn't make sense.

“I contacted Lenstore directly and spoke to a woman from customer support but I don’t think she grasped what I was telling her.Man finds stranger's blood sample instead of contact lenses inside 

“I told her that I didn’t get the contact lenses and asked her if she knew how this could have happened and she said no.

“Then she said they’ll send me out some more contact lenses.”

He said she apologized and told him “that shouldn’t have happened” and then asked if there "was any blood on the box or contact lenses."

Josh said the contact lenses were sent out and delivered the next day but he was still stuck with a blood sample that he didn’t know what to do with.

He said: “I contacted my GP and went down to the surgery to see if they could take it off my hands – and they were completely baffled.

“They had to get their colleagues to take a look so there were just a few of them standing there with incredibly confused faces.

“They asked me multiple times if it was mine – and oddly enough I did go for a blood test myself recently – but they told me they don’t have the same kind of bags.

“In the end, they said to return it to Lenstore.”

Josh returned the package – but said he’s worried that whoever sent the sample might be waiting for an "important test".

He said: “I just don’t understand how this could have happened, and you don’t know how important that is for somebody – has a lab scientist opened a box with my contact lenses in it?”

A spokesperson for Lenstore said they take “matters like this very seriously” but were unable to comment on individual customer orders.

They confirmed that they’d been in touch with Josh to find out what happened – and sent out new contact lenses.

Royal Mail was also approached for a comment and said they do not open or alter the contents of any item, and to do so would be a criminal offense.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: “We would recommend the customer contacts the sender to investigate.

“In this case, the name, address, and tracking label were all correct, and we delivered the item as addressed.”