The father of Scotland rugby legend Sean Lineen has thanked a Londoner for saving his life after he went missing from an airport following a long flight.
The former member of the 1990 Grand Slam winning team issued a public appeal after his 80-year-old father Terry Lineen, a former All Black, went missing after touching down at Heathrow Airport from New Zealand earlier this month.
Mr Lineen senior has now revealed he wandered off from the busy airport and ended up spending the night in the open dressed only in tee-shirt and shorts.
He was missing for 17 hours immediately after arriving in the UK earlier this month while on his way to Edinburgh to join former Glasgow Warriors coach Sean and his family in Edinburgh for the Rugby World Cup.
Mr Lineen said he become disoriented during the transfer of flights at Heathrow Airport on the afternoon of September 3 and somehow found his way out of the terminal and into the street.
As his son headed to London to join police in the search for his father a huge social media campaign was sparked with leading rugby figures including Sean Fitzpatrick, the former All Black captain, Ryan Jones, Wales’ Grand Slam winning captain and Brian Moore, the England hooker turned TV commentator, among those doing what they could to alert the wider public.
He said he was lost overnight, 17 hours elapsing between the family first being notified and him turning up, lying in shrubs in the district of Twickenham, where the World Cup final will take place next month.
Still in a confused state and cut and bruised he was found the following morning by a 25-year-old, meeting his concerned enquiry as to his condition by saying: “I’m looking for Sean,” to receive the reply “I am Sean.” By an odd coincidence his name was Sean Eckett and he immediately alerted the authorities.
“I can remember that I was so tired through walking that I’d come to this little road and there were a lot of trees and shrubs around and I made myself a little bed in the shrubs,” is Mr Lineen senior's only clear recollection of the night.
“It was in the morning. I’d been there all night. I clearly remember breaking the branches and spreading them out, but that’s about all I remember.
“I only had shorts and a tee-shirt on and I woke up and I had scratches all over me and blood all over me. I reckon that guy who found me saved my life.”
Initially released from hospital and allowed to head on to Edinburgh with his son Mr Lineen took another turn for the worse on arrival in Scotland and was in hospital until the middle of last week and, taken aback by the level of concern generated, he was keen to register his gratitude as widely as possible.
“People have been absolutely marvellous,” he said.
“The letters that have been in the paper and things like that, I just can’t believe it. It’s amazing how people got together to do what they could. It seems like a big fairytale… a dream to me.”
In excellent spirits he admits that latterly he was more concerned about missing the rugby than his health, however.
“To tell you the truth I was getting a bit worried about even being able to go to the games,” he said.
“It was at the back of my mind all the time when I was very crook, but now I’ve got it sorted and I’m quite confident I’ll be able to go.”
He will now be fit to attend the double header that will see family history properly recognised when New Zealand meet Tonga at Newcastle on October 9 before Scotland face Samoa in what is expected to be their decisive Pool B meeting the following day.
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