A father recently shared a distressing experience of his autistic son getting lost after accidentally boarding the wrong bus. And that it was thanks to two kind Samaritans that he and his wife managed to track him safely.
In his shocking yet heartwarming Facebook post—that has now gone viral, with over 800 likes and 93 comments—the father shared the exact chronology of the unfortunate event.
Autistic Son Gets Lost After Boarding The Wrong Bus
On Thursday (1 April), Bob Lee and his wife were supervising their son's ascendance to learning independence. They awaited bus service 183 at the stop, before the one he was situated at.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned when their son boarded 188 instead of his stipulated 183 and headed in the opposite direction of his destination.
The couple chased after the bus with Lee using a bicycle and his wife switching to a car to find their son. His wife did manage to catch up with the bus after a few minutes and started calling out, "I'm looking for my son, he has Autism!"
The bus captain then told her, "The boy who talks to himself? He alighted at the polyclinic."
Two Kind Samaritans Help Them Find Their Lost Son
Afterwards, Lee took a cab to the designated bus stop only to find that his son was nowhere around. Still panicked, Lee started to shout his son's name. But instead of finding his son, he attracted the attention of a Malay father with a child.
After asking whether he was looking for his son, the man informed him, "My wife brought him to (the) police station. Don’t worry, my son’s also ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), we will help you."
With great relief, Lee was also assured that the man's wife took care of the lost child and then brought him over. Lee was grateful for the kind family after finding his son was found safe and unharmed.
"I’m so grateful that (my son) has met a kind Samaritan," wrote Lee.
Aidil Ismail, the man whose wife helped Lee's lost son, also uploaded a post about the incident on Facebook and wrote, "[S]o proud of my wife! [S]he did everything she could to reunite this lovely autistic teen back to his parents when he had lost his way[.]"
His wife, Dhiya Liyana, also commented below Lee's post praising their son with how he handled the situation despite being lost. She had apparently found him when she noticed the teen looking around and calling out, 'mummy mummy where's mummy[?]".
Her actions were a good example of how to help find a missing child and helping them get back home. She also wrote, "He was so good in calming himself by asking me to count backwards with him! Brave boy."
With the couple's kind help in looking after their son, Lee ended his post by writing, "It takes a village to raise a child."
The two families have also shared that they have become friends after the encounter.
Netizens React In Support And Relief To The Heartwarming Story
Lee's post garnered a lot of attention from the public with many leaving supportive words with comments under his post. Many of which shared the family's relief for safely reuniting.
- "Beautiful story to start celebration for Autism Awareness Month ! Jia you All !" wrote Facebook user Tan Eng Wah.
- User William WK Tan replied under Dhiya Liyana's comment and wrote, "more and more people only pay attention to their phones and not to anyone else on the streets. Your attention to others made a big difference! Kudos!"
- "I’m taking notes so everyone can follow this fine example of human love & kindness," wrote user Wayan Melayu.
- Facebook user Nur Inaya Low even left a suggestion if ever the situation arises again and wrote, "Have you taught jun le how to use a phone and send sms? We teach our kids in school that. And like how to answer basic questions like take a photo of your surroundings or answer the phone. At least with some guidance [yo]u can guide him to pass a phone to someone who can tell you where they are."
More praised Lee's son for being brave enough to approach a stranger for help and were overall thankful that the teen managed to find his way back to his parents.
Hopefully, this encourages more people to try and find ways in how to help find a missing child when encountered with a similar occurrence.
Lead image source from Facebook / Bob Lee.
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