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Lifestyle

How a terrified mum found lost son using TikTok trick

3 minutes to read
A woman has shared a video about what to do if your child goes missing in public. Video / @jesmartini

A woman has shared a video about what to do if your child goes missing in public. Video / @jesmartini

news.com.au

A mother has revealed how a TikTok video helped to find her missing son over the weekend.

The woman, who was shopping at Kmart in the NSW Hunter Region on Saturday, described the ordeal as the "scariest 10 minutes of my life".

She said the shopper who found her son may never have spotted him if it weren't for the advice of a fellow mum who posted the TikTok video.

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After her 2-year-old son went missing in the retailer, her friend immediately ran to the entry and alerted a staff member to not let a boy of his description leave the store, even if he was with an adult.

"Another friend searched the area he was last seen," the mum wrote in a Facebook post.

She frantically began looking for him "silently", running through aisles, searching beneath clothes racks and calling out his name every now and then.

But it was in this moment she had remembered TikTok video.

"Yes, TikTok," she admitted.

"If your child goes missing, screw the stares and start calling out their description.

"I'm missing a little boy, he's wearing a yellow shirt and has brown hair. He's 2 years old and his name is Nathan."

She repeated the line several times and told herself "not to break down" in tears.

"You need people to understand you loud and clear," she said.

She said it could also help decreases the chances of someone walking off with them. Photo / TikTok
She said it could also help decreases the chances of someone walking off with them. Photo / TikTok

After repeatedly calling for help, the mum said the "change in everyone was instantaneous".

"I had every adult around me on alert. They all threw aside what they were looking at and started searching too," she explained.

"I turned an aisle and heard 'He's here!'. I turned back the way I came and there he was. A man had walked past him after hearing me calling out."

After a deep sigh of relief, she thanked the man and said if she hadn't called out her son's description, the shopper wouldn't have had a clue she was looking for her son.

"Nate would have walked past him and he wouldn't have blinked," she said.

"So to all parents out there, if your child goes missing, do not search in silence or just call out their name.

"Shout out loud and clear. Say that they're missing, give a description and repeat, repeat, repeat!"

In the TikTok, the fellow mum explains that loudly looking for your missing child will alert those around you and if someone is trying to walk off with them, "they are much more likely to let them go because they don't want that sort of commotion".