A man feared dead for three weeks following the Boxing Day tsunami
has made contact with his mother after an appeal in the Congleton
Chronicle.
Scott Hesketh, a reporter for the Cheshire weekly, broke the news to Sandra Connor that her son Andrew, 37, was still alive.
He
said: “She was overjoyed. She said she had sought help from national
governments and embassies to no avail, but a 35p local paper had lent
her a hand and helped her find her son.
“It was a great feeling to know that the work you do has so much of an effect on someone else’s life.”
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Connor was trekking in Thailand with his girlfriend when the giant wave struck, and had not been heard from since.
The Chronicle published an appeal for information and was contacted a week later by a local woman who knew the missing man.
She had phoned his Amsterdambased flatmate who had in turn made contact with Connor and find out he was alive and well.
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He had apparently not been in touch with his parents because he did not know their new telephone number.
Mrs
Connor said: “I was preparing myself for the worst, thinking that I
would never see my son again. But now that I know he is OK I am
thrilled.
“I am truly grateful to the Chronicle.
At first I didn’t want anything in the paper, but I am glad something went in.
I have come out from under a massive black cloud.”
In
an email sent to his mother, Connor revealed that he was on the island
of Pipi searching for the bodies of two friends who were still missing.
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