FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Love Bridge in Paris has been home to locks of love for years, but sadly, tens of thousands of them had to be removed over fears the bridge isn’t sturdy enough to hold them.
One man made it his mission to return those love locks to their rightful owners, and one South Florida couple was lucky enough to get theirs back.
Paris is known as one of the most romantic cities in the entire world and back in 2015 Gio and Janelle Fuente of Pembroke Pines decided to take a trip to the City of Love and made one special stop in particular.
“We were looking forward to visiting that part of Paris and being part of that tradition,” Janelle said.
They visited the Pont Des Arts Bridge, where sweethearts would attach love locks with sentimental messages to the bridge.
The couple added theirs.
Months later during the summer of 2015, the city removed the padlocks over fears that the added weight could cause the bridge to collapse.
The longtime heartfelt tradition, now over with.
“We weren’t even thinking about what happens later on to it, we just thought it was going to be lost forever,” Gio said.
“We were just thrilled to be there, get there, slide, it in before they took it out,” Janelle said.
A Parisian named Phileas, also known as the Love Lock Savior, decided to save some of those locks and reunite them back to their rightful owners.
“I didn’t want them going in the garbage,” Phileas told Good Morning America.
He collects antique keys and realized some of them could open up the locks.
He came across the Fuente’s lock and posted it on Instagram. With a little help from an ABC News reporter, the couple got their lock back.
Reunited with a prized possession, the couple locked it in place in their home.
“Now this is a part of our family story, it’s a part of our family history, we are going to have this in our family for generations to come,” Janelle said.
The Fuente’s put the lock in a shadow box, next to a picture of them in Paris holding the very same lock seven years prior.
The couple will celebrate their 20th anniversary later this year.