To use MN to say thank you to the teenagers at Chessington

[paniniswapx3]

Was at Chessington World of Adventure today & lost DS (7) following a ride (where you exit through a shop). It was only for a few minutes but panic completely set in & I was screaming his name. No adults or staff helped me at all but a group of teenagers (boys & girls) came forward to ask what he looked like & went on the hunt for him. They found him after a couple of minutes (he'd gone back towards the ride) & brought him to me. I did say thanks to them but in my relief, I started crying & focusing on DS, so don't feel I said thanks properly. Therefore if any of your lovely teenage DC tell you about the frantic Irish mum at Chessington today, please give them my heartfelt thanks - they were fab & sprung into action so quickly (were about 6 of them) when not one adult helped at all! I'm so grateful & annoyed with myself that I didn't thank them more earlier!

Ahhh how lovely! Glad DS wasn't gone too long.

They will have understood your panic and will have been only too pleased to help.

How stressful for you!

well done to those kind teens!

Teens get bad press but most of them are good kids at heart. So glad they were there to help and your DS was found quickly.

Why did no adults or staff help you?

Glad he was found safely

Maybe try facebook or twitter. Dont think teens are known for frequenting MN glad all was well. Horrible feeling i know all too well.

I agree MrsSpecter but thought their mums & dads might

No idea why no adults helped but they all gawked at me & when I asked staff to help they just looked at me blankly (they looked v young themselves). Honestly the teens appeared out of nowhere & asked for his description (& I had his younger brother with me who looks very like him & was wearing the same coat, so a great description!) & they literally spread out on the hunt & found him a couple of minutes later. I've never felt such fear & then relief.

That moment of panic when you just know they are gone. There's nothing like it. I was ill for about two days after I lost my eldest (she was found about half an hour later, the longest half an hour of my life). So glad these lovely teenagers were there to help you.

Glad he was found quickly.
Get thee back to Ireland and to Dublin Zoo - I noticed a little boy alone and crying there last year, left him with my Mum while I went to tell a staff member who was on the radio and had a process in progress in seconds to alert staff. His Mum showed up a few minutes later (in a similar condition to you!) so all was fine but I have to say the staff were fantastic - and the zoo was PACKED as it was Easter week. Must have happened 8 times a day!

Oh and I remember us losing my brother who was 4 for about half an hour in a park. I still feel sick when I think about it. Mine are 4 and 2 and have the fear of God in them about running off. Long may it stay that way.

That's so nice to hear. Groups of teens often get a bad press, but can be just lovely.

I'm sure they realise how grateful you were.

The best way to try and relay this sort of message would probably be through Facebook, as a post on the Chessington page maybe? More likely to see it!

They will know you're grateful though after seeing how frantic you were. So glad he was found quickly!

:) lovely

Ah bless you and them and DS too! It's awful isn't it! I lost DD at softplay when she was a mere baby...she was about 14 months and DH and I were hosting our older DDs party....we both thought the other had the baby...wrong.

It took TEN MINUTES to locate her. Some little girls had basically requisitioned her as their baby and taken her inside the big jungle gym to Mother her!

The whole place was turned upside down with people looking...I saw one person exit into the carpark to look and that did it...I was horrified!

Adults were climbing on the equipment calling her name...but it was me who found her inside it....the little girls were oblivious and I managed to say "Oh...you've got her..." quite calmly. They all smiled and said they were playing house!

Whenever I was pregnant on my commutes into work, it was always teens who'd notice and offer a seat.
They do get a terrible press, very unfairly. Hope you manage to get your message of gratitude through op. I second Chessington Facebook pg as a good starting place.
Glad you and ds are ok.

big thumbs up for those

I live in England Middlings, so no going back (except on holiday ) otherwise that response sounds perfect!

Yes, I think teens get a lot of bad press, but this lot were like superheroes! To be fair, I was screaming his name like a banshee, but they just appeared, spread themselves out & found him. Fab!

I'm a bit loathe to put it on FB or the Chessington webpage as already feel like a complete let down as a mum, so don't want to advertise the fact (here it's anonymous!!). Was just hoping through this website, someone would recognise someone etc.

I was on a bus with DD1, next to a group of deeply unpromising looking teenage boys (low slung jeans, hoodies obscuring faces, loads of attitude, mumbling West London patois). I needed to get off but it was so packed I couldn't move. They leapt into action, chivvied people to let me through, lifted pram carefully onto pavement, double-checked I had everything, ushered people back onto bus. Still makes me smile a decade later

Hopefully one of the mum's will read it.

I'm glad DS was safe & sound, it's easily done - & terrifying.

Lovely story and so glad you found your son!!!

I work with young people a lot in my field, and am still surprised at how genuinely lovely most of them are. They always help me carry things, one set of boys walked me to the bus stop and waited with me late at night in a remote area, and now that I am pregnant, the boys in particular bend over backwards to help...

I get such a kick out of them and such nice energy, hate the bad rep they get and am so happy others notice too!

They leapt into action, chivvied people to let me through, lifted pram carefully onto pavement, double-checked I had everything, ushered people back onto bus

brilliant:o
wouldnt it be great if you could have somehow captured that on video and put it on youtube:o

Glad you found him OK, it's an awful feeling isn't it?
I'm a cub leader and have some young leaders. They are amazing! Teens very often get a very bad press- sometimes deservedly so but most of the time they are good and want to help out with what they can.

So glad, and great. Yes, teens were the only ones who gave up their seats to me, too. And today an elderly man nearly fell when the bus swerved, and was held upright by a teen. He didn't say thank you, perhaps he was ashamed.. ( but I said well done).

As a mum of a teen I also want to say don't judge a book by its cover.