Terry Lineen, left, with All Blacks teammates during the 1959 Lions Tour of New Zealand.
Terry Lineen, left, with All Blacks teammates during the 1959 Lions Tour of New Zealand.
Disorientated after a long flight and lost in one of the busiest cities in the world, an elderly ex-All Black has revealed how a strange coincidence "saved" him.
Terry Lineen, 79, vanished from Heathrow Airport this month and spent 19 hours wandering the city before he was found injured by a passing cyclist.
He has now issued a public thank you in a Scottish newspaper to the man who found him.
The former midfielder, who donned the black jersey in the late 1950s, went missing between his connecting flights from Auckland to Edinburgh while en route to visit his son - former Scotland player Sean Lineen - and enjoy a seven week Rugby World Cup holiday.
A report in Herald Scotland details how Mr Lineen Snr wandered off from the busy airport and ended up spending the night in the open dressed only in t-shirt and shorts.
Mr Lineen Snr told the publication he become disoriented during the transfer of flights and wandered onto the street.
His 53-year-old son rushed to London to join the search, and his daughter-in-law Lynne Lineen launched a social media campaign backed by leading rugby figures including Sean Fitzpatrick.
He was found 19 hours later in Twickenham, where the cup final will be held next month, by 25-year-old Londoner Sean Eckett - whose familiar name made a big difference, the Scottish paper reported.
When the 25-year-old asked if the elderly man was okay, Mr Lineen said he was "looking for Sean".
Terry Lineen, right, with his son Sean.
"I am Sean," replied Mr Eckett.
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," Mr Lineen Snr told the publication.
"I only had shorts and a t-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," he said.
Mr Lineen Snr - who has blood cancer - was taken to a London hospital but was quickly discharged and continued to Scotland with his son.
However, he had a minor setback upon arrival and was also admitted to a hospital there.
He told the Scottish paper the level of concern was overwhelming and the whole ordeal "seemed like a dream" - but his main concern was missing the games.
"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."
