It was a sports fan's nightmare: Leaving a pair of Olympics tickets on a crowded passenger train, then arriving at the venue to realize you're empty handed.

When they found out they had mislaid their tickets, mother and son rushed back to Liverpool Street station only to find the train had been cleaned and the tickets were still missing.

It could have been a real disaster without the help of a Greater Anglia cleaner, Gaspare Giarracco, who was willing to go back into the train station's trash cans and rummage around until he found the precious tickets.

"I was determined to help the customer, find the tickets and make sure the story had a happy ending," said Giarracco, 42, who received a special 'Champions' award from his company.

— Raissa Ioussouf — Twitter http://twitter.com/Rioussouf

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EDITOR'S NOTE — "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.