‘I am so delighted to have him back’

The mother of a two-year-old boy found wandering 1km from his home in the early hours of the morning after crossing one of the busiest roads in the country, has spoken of her relief at getting him back safely.

Theo Costelloe, from Aspen Gardens, St Patrick's Road, Limerick, left his home at 2am yesterday after climbing out of his cot and walking out the front door.

The fair-haired toddler managed to cross the busy N7 Limerick to Dublin Road at traffic lights and was about 1km from his home when he was spotted by student James Ryan (21) who was walking home from work and alerted gardaí.

Speaking in Limerick today, Theo's mother Christine Costelloe (26) who also has a second son, Jack (6), and a daughter Lauren (1) said: "I am so relieved. It could have been a completely different outcome. I am glad it's good news all round and I am very grateful to the gardaí. And I am very grateful to James for staying with him until the guards turned up."

She recalled how after falling asleep on the couch after a training session she went to bed around 11pm on Tuesday night “not realising she hadn’t double-locked the front door from the inside”.

The single parent was woken from her sleep by gardaí at around 3.45am.

“I was asleep. I was unaware of anything wrong. I went to bed and I heard guards downstairs calling ‘is anybody there’?

“When I went down they asked me had I a son and so I went back up and checked and checked their rooms. I have an older son and he was in bed and I went into Theo’s room and he wasn’t in his cot.”

“So I went downstairs and the guards showed me a picture on their phone and they said is this him? And I said ‘yeah’ and they said it was ok. He was safe. They said they had him in Henry Street [Garda station] and they were going to bring him back.”

She recalled feeling “panic and shock” trying to think back as to how she hadn’t heard anything like a “creaking door”.

“I didn’t know any different. I had fallen asleep downstairs, I woke up and just went to bed not realising I hadn’t double-locked the front door with the key. You couldn’t get in from the outside but you could open it from the inside, so it just had to be double locked, but I completely forgot and went to bed.”

When asked how she felt after she was told her little boy was found wandering on a busy road the mother of three said it was a mixture of shock and relief.

“I was so delighted I had him back if I been awake and knew he was missing it would have been a lot worse, but I knew he was safe and I had him back.”

She added: “He had climbed out of the cot a couple of mornings beforehand but I was up with the baby and he came straight down to me. It’s very unlike him not to check me inside in bed. But he didn’t make any noise he just climbed out of his cot closed his bedroom door and walked straight out the front door.”

Ms Costelloe said Theo’s brother’s school is down that direction so he would know the route and the road would be familiar to him.

Limerick student James Ryan (21) a native of Kilkenny found the two year old at 2.20am wandering along a by-road off the Dublin Road near Cherrydale Court heading in the direction of Rhegobue and alerted gardaí.

The gardaí who dealt with him at the scene were Garda Orlaith Ryan and Garda Shaun O’Hagan.

“He had crossed the N7 Dublin Road at traffic lights and was heading down towards Rhebogue. James Ryan spotted him on the Dublin Road and followed him until a taxi driver pulled up and between the two of them they were able to get in contact with us. We arrived on the scene at 2.20am,” explained Garda O’Hagan.

The toddler was wearing a blue a blue sleep suit and had his sisters pink blanket with him when he was found.

James Ryan gave him is T-shirt to keep him warm and waited with him until gardai arrived.

Christine said she hasn’t spoken to the 21-year-old yet but she is extremely grateful and is looking forward to thanking him.

“The ifs and buts went through my head all day yesterday but I can’t dwell on that now,” said the relieved mother of three.

Garda Ryan recalled how the gardaí knocked on doors all around the area in an effort to locate the missing child’s home.