A grateful mum has explained how she found her missing daughter in a matter of minutes thanks to a slightly unusual method of searching.
The knowledge could prove vital in an emergency:
What's the first thing you do when you're looking for someone nearby? In the hope of getting their attention instinct usually tells us to call their name, but mum and TikToker Krista has pointed out that might not necessarily be the best course of action.
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In a video shared on her account last month, Krista explained that she'd been with her son and her three-year-old daughter, Lily, at a 'huge' indoor children's play area when she suddenly lost sight of her daughter.
Noting the area had a 'lot of nooks and crannies' Lily could have hidden in, Krista recruited her son to help in the search and set about looking for her daughter by doing what we'd all do: calling her name.
"Right after I started calling her name, a little light bulb went off in my head, I remembered a TikTok I'd seen probably over a year ago," Krista explained.
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The video Krista had seen was of a mum who had called out what her son looked like when she lost him in a supermarket, allowing her to find him much quicker.
This 'looking loudly' method encourages other members of the public to join in the search as they know who they're looking for, rather than relying solely on the missing person to hear their name.
Krista continued: "I stopped calling out her name, I started yelling 'little girl, pink shirt, pink Minnie Mouse shirt' [...] I'm sure people thought that I was a little crazy."
The mum said her daughter was missing for no more than a minute and a half, but it felt like 'eternity'.
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Krista heard other mums at the play area repeating Lily's description after she started shouting, and before long someone called out that they'd spotted her.
"So [public service announcement], if you ever lose your child, or dog, or anything, yell out their description, raise your voice," Krista said.
"I probably looked like a crazy person, but it got the job done. I found my kid really fast."
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The mum attempted to prevent any backlash from trolls online by insisting she was being diligent and watching her child, but that the youngster had slipped away amid the crowds as she watched on and chatted with another mum.
Krista now hopes other parents will remember the tactic, as it could save precious time if you ever lose a child.
Emily Brown