Young Aussie traveller's 18-hour nightmare in Chinese airport after passport vanishes
Instead of enjoying an overseas holiday she had "dreamed of for years", an Aussie traveller was left stranded in an overseas airport for more than 18 hours after her passport went missing on her flight.
Maddi Healey, 20, and her friend flew over 10 hours from Sydney to Guangzhou, China earlier this month, speaking excitedly about their plans to visit The Great Wall. However, as they lined up at the customs desk, Maddi realised her passport was nowhere to be found.
"We turned the bag inside out and searched my friend's bag. It was not there," she told Yahoo News. "I then noticed a decent-sized rip in the top of my backpack that was not there before leaving for China."
Panicked, the pair asked if the plane could be searched for the missing passport. Nothing was found.
"Something didn't feel right...By this point, my friend and I had to make the tough decision as to whether or not she would continue the trip solo in the hope that I would recover my passport and meet up with her. We said our goodbyes," Maddi said.
Airport staff instructed Maddi to sit down and that's what she did — waiting for over 18 hours without WiFi or access to power outlets to charge her phone. She claims she was given little information on what would happen next and that staff were generally unhelpful.
After calling the Australian embassy, who were unable to help her as she hadn't yet gone through customs, Maddi had no faith her passport would be found or handed in. She got the impression that stolen passports were a "very regular occurrence" in the country from speaking to the embassy, and she sadly resigned herself to the fact she'd simply have to fly home. An airport worker came to her rescue.
"About seven hours in [ my wait], a lovely man who was working at the international desk came over and offered his help... he sat with me and booked me a ticket back to Sydney... I ended up paying $660," she explained, adding the worker forfeited his lunch so Maddi could eat something.
"I believe that if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten home the way I did and in such a timely manner," she said. "I was in complete despair, filled with fear and frustration."
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Maddi is now warning Aussies to be "so careful" with their passport, urging travellers to "keep it strapped to you at all times".
"Don't assume everyone has the same level of respect for your belongings. Have all your documents photographed and saved in your phone," she said. "I was extremely disheartened that I was missing out on a trip that I had dreamt of for years."
Maddi also called for a review of the international system, claiming there needs to be more services that help Aussies who are stuck in the "grey area" — not yet in the country but no longer on the plane.
"Being unable to be helped by the embassy due to a matter of metres is really hard. I hope no one else has to experience this during their travels."
There has been a significant increase in the number of Aussie passports stolen, with 1,942 reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade between 2023 and 2024 — a 28 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
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