A mother who was afraid that her mentally disabled son would run away has tattooed her contact information on his arm. Upon changing her number, the new phone number was added to his arm, while the old one was crossed out.

This story triggered the attention of netizens on Weibo today, when Chinese media reported that Wenzhou police found the boy walking besides a Zhejiang highway on July 22nd.

Since the boy was unable to clearly communicate, the police then contacted his parents by calling the number tattooed on his arm.

The mother reportedly stated that her son, who is 17 years old this year, had wandered off many times before. She, therefore, decided to tattoo their number on his arm. When she changed number, she added it to his arm and crossed through the old one.

“It would be better if she tried not to change her phone number too often,” one Weibo commenter writes, with others saying: “At least it’s better than putting their entire address on there.”

“Why didn’t she give him a wristband?”, others wonder.

There are also many who feel sad for the mother: “Poor mum. Life’s not easy.”

Although the Chinese government has been making greater efforts in improving the country’s mental healthcare, there are many people dealing with mental disabilities or problems who cannot get the care they need.

Sina News reports that the mother and son have now been reunited.

By Miranda Barnes and Manya Koetse

Follow @whatsonweibo

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us.

©2018 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.