A concerned train passenger has gone viral online after she reached out to station staff to ask them to check on an "unwell man" she saw at a platform - only to discover he was actually just a statue.
Emma Obank was on a train passing through Woking, Surrey, when she spotted what she thought was a man sitting on a bench covered in snow, who looked "frozen to death".
Worried for his safety, Emma contacted South Western Railway on Twitter to ask them to check on the man, but was left red-faced when she was told he wasn't really a man at all, but rather one of a series of sculptures found throughout Woking.
In a tweet, Emma said: "Hi, I've just been on the train passing through Woking. It looked like there was a man very unwell on Platform one on a bench. Can station staff check he's ok?"
In response, the train company wrote: "That's ok Emma. He is a permanent fixture on the station - he is one of a series of sculptures in the town."
Thankfully, Emma was able to see the funny side, as she reached out once again and posted: "Oh thank god! It was covered in snow so I thought someone had frozen to death!"
Fellow Twitter users found the incident hilarious, with many of them praising Emma for having a kind heart and wanting to do the right thing.
One person said: "This must be the funniest thing I have seen online today. Hahaha."
While another added: "You're so cute."
The incident took place in March 2018 but the tweet is going viral again after Emma re-shared the "mad moment" on its anniversary.
Commenters on her re-post described the interaction as "golden" and reassured Emma that it's an easy mistake to make as they also think the statue looks realistic.
Emma wrote: "Five years since this mad moment. It never gets old."
Someone said: "This is so funny but also genuinely very sweet. I'm glad you checked and I’m glad this was the outcome."
As someone else posted: "Fantastic, that's brilliant! To be fair it's seriously realistic! Most importantly though good for you to reach out to help someone you thought was in need!"
A South Western Railway spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Seated Man is still okay, but we are glad that our customers are keen to look out for one another."
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