Mysterious fish which landed in Newcastle doctor's garden and went viral on social media sadly dies

A goldfish which mysteriously appeared in a junior doctor's Newcastle garden has died, despite his best efforts to care for it.

Dr Ben Beska, 33, went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter, after vowing to keep a fish that he had found lying in his garden on Saturday, June 1, as a pet. The NHS cardiology doctor was investigating why a group of magpies were gathered on his lawn when he found the fish, which he retrieved and placed in a freezer drawer filled with water.

He called the fish Alice, after texting a friend about the fish which was autocorrected from "It's alive", to "It's alice". His initial post on Twitter of the goldfish lying on the grass racked 24 million views on X alone and even got a mention on panel show Have I Got News For You?

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After keeping Alice safe from his two cats, Dr Beska even got a companion for her, a black goldfish, which he named Barney. However, on Saturday, he shared the sad news that Alice died after a week in his home.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: "Unfortunately I have some very sad news to share. Alice has passed from her injuries and is now eternally swimming in the Big Fish Tank In The Sky.

"RIP. Alice is now the Fish That Lived (For A Bit)".

The news of Alice's death has, at the time of writing, reached more than five million users on X. Fans have created numerous tributes to the deceased goldfish, including Paddington Bear accompanying her into the afterlife.