'Good Samaritans' reunite Telford family separated by train

The family had been returning to Telford from a day trip to Legoland in Birmingham

A mother has praised bystanders who helped her three young children get home safely after she was separated from them trying to get off a train.

Nana Akua Boakyewaa, 32, was travelling to Telford on Thursday, when her children exited the train, but the doors closed before she could leave.

She said she was left with no option but to get off at the next stop, where a member of public came to her aid.

Her children were later found at home, after being helped by a taxi driver.

The family had been returning home from a trip to Legoland in Birmingham, when the train doors closed as Ms Boakyewaa tried to leave with her pushchair.

She said she was "panicking" as the train left her other children, a nine-year-old girl, and two boys aged five and two, behind on the platform.

"At that moment, I was not even thinking," she said, "My kids were on the platform."

The mum-of-five, who also has six-month-old twins, said a woman rushed to help her when she arrived in a "distressed" state at Wellington station, and offered to drive her back to Telford.

Upon arrival, she was assisted by several members of the public, who helped her to check nearby hotels, footpaths and the town centre.

'Good people'

"I was struggling to breathe," Ms Boakyewaa said.

She praised the help of an off-duty paramedic who came to reassure her and held her hand, as the police were called,

"He kept saying they would be found and tried to calm me down," she said.

Officers from West Mercia Police later found the children at their address with a neighbour, after a taxi driver who had witnessed the incident offered to drop them off home.

Ms Boakyewaa said her daughter must have remembered their address.

"When I came home, I really broke down, I didn't want them to leave my side at all," she said.

"I really want to thank them all, especially that taxi driver - A very big thank you from the bottom of my heart.

"There are good people in the world."