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| Jolly-looking photo of the missing mom that immediately went viral |
All’s well that ends well for a visiting Filipino family in Hong Kong. Their elderly member, Zenaida Venturina, was found with help from alert netizens, a few hours after a frantic message from her daughter on Wednesday morning said she was missing.
The message, posted at about 9am that day said, the
74-year-old Mrs Venturina went missing at around 9:30pm the previous night when
the family was about to leave Disneyland.
Her daughter, Amelia Ann Marie, said Mrs Venturina entered
a souvenir shop on their way out, and disappeared. She had her passport and
Octopus card with her, but did not need any medication.
Her message immediately was reposted in several
other Facebook pages by several concerned Filipinos.
A family friend, Ferdinand, also contacted The SUN
at about the same time to ask for help in reaching out to other Filipinos in
Hong Kong so Mrs Venturina could be located.
But within minutes after the post came out in the
Facebook group page, “Hong Kong and Macau Travel Updates Promo,” a netizen
shared a post in another group from one Amira Alaya saying she saw a woman that
looked like the missing mom.
“I saw an old lady in Hang Hau MTR (she has short
hair and looks like this one but I’m not sure if it’s the same person as I saw
the post after I took the MTR). She was sitting in a chair in the paid area and
there was an MTR staff next to her. Hope you can find her soon,” her post read.
Family members and friends immediately sped to Hang
Hau MTR station and were gratified to see that it was indeed, Mrs Venturina,
who was there.
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| Missing mom looking worried when pictured in Hang Hau |
Anne Marie later confirmed being reunited with her
mother.
“Thank you to all who shared in other groups, those
who prayed for mom’s safety and those who saw her, Ms Amira Alaya, thank you
very much. We will remember everything you said so that next time this will not
happen (again). God bless everyone,” she said in a post.
She did not give details as to where her mother had spent the night, or whether she got fed and other information.
Many members of the chat page, who had earlier
expressed concern about whether the missing mom was hungry, cold, or afraid,
were quick to extend messages of relief and joy.
Other well-meaning netizens said the elderly mother
should probably be equipped with an air tag, a small Bluetooth-enabled device
that is usually used in locating lost items like keys up to a distance of about 30 meters outdoors, next time they left the house.
At least one said this was her worry as well as her family was also set to go to Disneyland. She said she had been thinking of putting a tag giving her contact details, inside the clothes of her special-needs child and her senior mom, aside from establishing landmarks where they could go in case they get lost.
Another put a happy spin to the story, saying “Nakakatuwa na nakita na si Mader J
May pa happy ending ever after. Oh, enjoy your travel na, wag na magsisihan,
and of course (remember) na maging mapagmatyag sa kasama.”
(It’s a relief that Mother has been found. There is
a happy ending ever after all. Go enjoy your travel now, no recriminations, and
of course remember to always look out after your companions).
