A pensioner who donated his late wife's wedding dress to a charity shop has said he feels "proud and elated" that it sold for almost £3,000.
The dress was left at St Gemma's Hospice charity shop in Garforth with a touching note two weeks ago, which read: "I wish any lady who takes this dress to have a life with her loved one 56 years like I did. Happy years.
"I was a lucky man to marry a lady like mine."
The charity shop wrote about the dress on their social media accounts and after it gained global attention, they decided to put it up for auction on eBay to allow more people to bid for it.
According to a recent update on their Facebook page, the dress has now sold for £2,910.
Staff at St Gemma's Hospice charity shop managed to track down the "true gent" who donated the dress thanks to the help of social media, but the man wishes to remain anonymous.
However, the charity's head of communications Nicola Woodgate met with the 85-year-old.
"He's absolutely thrilled with the reaction and is overwhelmed that his special donation received global acclaim. He cannot believe the media frenzy and is overwhelmed with the amount raised for the dress on eBay," she told the MailOnline.
"He is so happy and proud that the Hospice will benefit from funds raised by the auction of the dress. He wishes to remain anonymous and we fully respect his decision but he is watching the media frenzy with interest and thinks it is wonderful.
"We have thanked him so much for his kindness and he would like to thank everyone for their support."
