Just booked to go to Weston next month for a night, you can get some really good deals on a Sunday night there. I love Weston, not too much travelling yet you feel like you are 'away' from everything. I found a 'lost' child there 2 years ago on the beach. We'd been watching the airshow and I'd caught the tail end of a tannoy announcement that 5 year old boy was missing, lewis. wearing swim trunks. I thought no more of it but as the planes flew off we began to walk to the other end over the sand, it was a lovely day , hot sun was baking the sand. I however had a cold a bit like today and has almost lost my voice.
I was behind Steve and caught him glance down at a child walking past us. I did a double take and saw the dried tears on his cheeks and the panic stricken look in his eyes and knew who he was,
I bent down and said in the worse hoarse voice possible when you're trying to gain a child's trust, Hi are you lost? Are you looking for your mummy? I'm Trin I'm a nurse. I'm going to look after you and we will find your mummy. He looked hesitant but held my hand. I looked around, we were miles from the other end and no one around at all. I saw lifeboats racing up and down the water and lifeguards at the waters edge. I realised he'd last been seen in the water. There was no one near us so we began to walk to an ambulance in the distance, I thought they'd have a radio to talk to the lifeguards. I said to lewis, if you ever get lost again you need to look for someone like that ambulance to help and with that the ambulance took off! Damn, we carried on and found a lifeguard van, there were wellis by the passenger door but no lifeguards. A man ran up to me, is this Lewis he said excitedly... I guess so I said. Lewis held my hand tighter. The man ran off to the waters edge and eventually a coastguard man arrived. He radioed someone and a 4x4 came to collect Lewis. They insisted I went with him as he trusted me, so I left Steve to hurry down the other end by the pier to meet me. On the way I spotted some water, I made Lewis drink some, he looked dehydrated to me. The coastguard was radioing the policeman with Lewis's mum. He kept asking if we were sure this WAS lewis and describing his swim shorts.
We finally reached a large crowd of people who'd gathered to watch this poor mums distress. I suddenly had a thought that she'd probably thought him drowned. The coastguard opened the car door to a wailing sound and the most distraught mother sobbing with relief. It was hard not to cry watching it, the coastguard said to her this is the lady who found him for you...Thank you thank you she said, I said he was a lovely child in my ever fading voice and nipped away quickly and waited for Steve then had a good cry when I saw him at the emotions of the afternoon.
A happy ending, no weirdo found him and snatched him, he wasn't lost at sea... scary how you can look away for one second and they've disappeared on a busy beach. If I could do one single thing in the world I would want madeleine mccann's parents to know what happened to her. That would be my one wish. Lets hope it happens in my life time for them.
