World of the Bizarre

Lost boy finds mother on Google Earth

By T.K. Randall
April 15, 2012 ·  17 comments

Image Credit: CC 2.0 Erin Saroo was only five years old when he became lost after being separated from his brother during a train journey. After getting on the wrong train and travelling for hours in the wrong direction he ended up begging on the streets of the Calcutta slums. Eventually he was rescued by an oprhanage but had no knowledge of his mother's name or the town in which he lived.

After being brought up by foster parents in Australia, 25 years on Saroo was able to use Google Earth to pinpoint his home town and find his birth mother. "She grabbed my hand and took me to her house," he said. "She could not say anything to me. I think she was as numb as I was. She had a bit of trouble grasping that her son, after 25 years, had just reappeared like a ghost."[!gad]Saroo was only five years old when he became lost after being separated from his brother during a train journey. After getting on the wrong train and travelling for hours in the wrong direction he ended up begging on the streets of the Calcutta slums. Eventually he was rescued by an oprhanage but had no knowledge of his mother's name or the town in which he lived.

After being brought up by foster parents in Australia, 25 years on Saroo was able to use Google Earth to pinpoint his home town and find his birth mother. "She grabbed my hand and took me to her house," he said. "She could not say anything to me. I think she was as numb as I was. She had a bit of trouble grasping that her son, after 25 years, had just reappeared like a ghost."

Source: BBC News | Comments (17)

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