A mum who lost her daughter in a public play area has revealed how she found her in a matter of minutes by using a method she'd seen on TikTok. Mum and wedding photographer Krista Piper had taken her three-year-old child to a large play area but all of a sudden she went out of sight.
Krista said her daughter Lily was going back and forth between the different sets at the play place, which is said to run the length of a "giant science museum" and has lots of "little nooks and crannies".
While talking with another mum, Krista said she suddenly lost sight of Lily, and after looking around a bit and being unable to see her, she began to "panic". At first the mum began shouting Lily's name, but then soon a "lightbulb went off"
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The mum then remembered a TikTok video she'd previously seen on the 'looking loudly' search technique, which came from a mother who had lost her child at a supermarket, reports The Mirror.
Rather than shouting out her son's name, the mum had instead called out a description of the clothes he'd been wearing that day, and was able to find him "way faster".
Taking to TikTok, where she goes by the username @krista.piper, Krista then recalled her own experience, and how it helped her to locate her daughter in just minutes.
"So that is what I did. I stopped calling out her name, and I started yelling, 'little girl, pink shirt, pink Minnie Mouse shirt," she said.
"I'm sure people thought that I was a little crazy, she was probably only missing for like a minute, to maybe a minute and a half, but for me it felt like eternity."
On reflection, Krista notes that she could have also added descriptors such as Lily's age or hair colour, but that was the quickest thing she could think of to say in the moment.
After Krista started yelling the description, she began to hear other mums repeating the same thing, and thankfully another mum spotted her, all thanks to Krista's quick thinking.
Krista continued: "If you ever lose your child, or dog or anything, yell out their description, raise your voice. You know, I probably looked like a crazy person, but it got the job done."
Fellow parents praised Krista for spreading the word, and agreed that this was a far better method than simply shouting out a child's name.
One person commented: "Yes! Yelling their name doesn't help because no one knows what Sally looks like, but they can pick out a three-year-old in a pink shirt and blue jeans."
Another wrote: "This is such incredible advice and any parent's worst nightmare. So thankful for mums pulling together to help find her. Good job mamma."
A third applauded: "This is wonderful - thank you! I try to dress kids in bright clothes when we go to big places like that just for my own eyes but it’s a great idea."
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