I would like to thank the very kind lady and her family who helped me locate my missing eight-year-old autistic son last Thursday afternoon up on Thurstaston Common. He has limitless energy, can out run us all, and has absolutely no sense of danger whatsoever.

Despite there being four of us, and our dog, with him he still managed to vanish into thin air within seconds.

The panic and terror I felt was immense, made worse by the fact that this is a child who wouldn’t ask for help or even tell someone his name.

He has no idea where he lives, doesn’t know our phone number, and couldn’t even say who he was with.

The lady, being a nurse, quickly realised something was amiss when he answered “granny” to the question “what is your name.”

She decided to chase after him and eventually I managed to catch up and carry on in the right direction.

He was gone for nearly 30 minutes and we knew that it would be pitch black within the hour.

Luckily, he was found, a little shocked, but otherwise unharmed. But for the actions of a compassionate stranger, the outcome may have been very different.

Knowing him as well as I do I have always been over cautious when out with him, have always been on high alert and careful, but he still managed to escape.

From now on he will have my mobile number attached to him and I will never take him out in a dark coat again, we have even wondered if the dog could be taught how to track him.

Amanda Henaghan, Heswall.