Mum's tears of joy as autistic son reunited with string lost at sea

11 hours ago

George KingSuffolk

News image — Mum Emma Jones said she tried to stop Freddie from throwing his strings into the sea, but to no avail

Supplied A selfie image of a woman wearing glasses and her young son who is wearing a white T-shirt and holding a bundle of strings and ropes. — Mum Emma Jones said she tried to stop Freddie from throwing his strings into the sea, but to no avail

A mum-of-three "burst into tears" upon realising her autistic son would be reunited with his beloved ball of strings after it was feared lost at sea.

Freddie Carroll, from Ipswich, was "happily playing with his bundle of strings" on Felixstowe Pier, when he decided to chuck it over the side.

The six-year-old, who was with his grandad and mum Emma Jones, 40, initially found it "hilarious" before crying after realising they were likely gone for good.

However, after Jones issued a social media appeal, the schoolboy, who is non-verbal, was reunited with his strings after they washed up on the beach and found by staff from a fish and chip shop.

"I burst into tears and couldn't believe someone had taken their time to go and look for a ball of strings for a little boy they didn't know," she said.

Supplied A young boy wearing a navy hooded top with cars on it sitting on an outdoor play area while holding a bundle of strings and ropes. — Freddie, six, struggles with communication and finds comfort in his bundle of strings

Freddie had been enjoying fish and chips when he threw the bundle off the pier, believing his mum would simply be able to get it back.

When he realised that would not happen, he "had a little bit of a cry" and spent the afternoon "walking around the house a little bit lost".

"The strings sunk into the sea and our hearts sunk at the same time, and it was difficult to explain to him the strings were gone," said Jones.

"He was constantly getting his bag, where his strings are kept when we go out, and putting our hands into the bag for us to get the strings out - but they weren't there."

'His prized possessions'

According to the National Autistic Society, there are at least 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK, some of whom find comfort in feeling certain things.

While being fixated on a specific activity or object does not always mean someone has autism, it is a "common characteristic", according to the Autism Service.

"Freddie is fascinated with the strings; they are really important to him and with him all the time, they mean the world to him," said Jones.

"He is fixated on them and plays and twiddles with them all day – they keep him regulated and happy and are his little prized possessions, bless him."

Supplied A woman standing in the sea while holding a boy who is holding a bundle of string and rope. — Freddie has had his latest bundle of strings for about a year, his mum said

In a desperate bid to fill the void left by his missing bundle of strings, Jones made an "emergency dash to craft shops" to buy strings, ribbons and shoelaces.

Freddie still "wasn't happy", so Jones took to social media in a last-ditch attempt to reunite him with his soothing strings.

She was "inundated with messages" from people saying they would make him a like-for-like ball of strings or join the search, before the ball was found by workers from Pier Fish Co.

"It was overwhelming and restored my faith in humanity," she said.

"The funny thing was, after all the stress we'd gone through, Freddie just came down the next morning and picked them up and started twizzling them as if nothing had ever happened."