The Notre Dame is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris, and thousands of people flock to the cathedral everyday. When such an incident occurs, Twitterati have a knack for picking up the most unique of stories.
This is one such story.
Moments before the fire engulfed the cathedral, a tourist named Brooke Windsor clicked a photo in front of it. The photo is seemingly an ordinary one, but something about it will immediately warm you from within. The picture shows a father and his young daughter playing outside the historic landmark. The sheer happiness that the picture exudes is a stark contrast to the sinister and heartbreaking pictures of the fire that have been flooding our news feeds.
Windsor claims that the picture was taken just before the fire broke out, and she believes that this photo may very well go down in history. However, she wants to identify the father-daughter duo in the picture.
And like most people, Windsor knew that if she wanted to identify the pair, she would have to rely on social media to do so. She tweeted the image with a beautiful caption, and prayed for a miracle, hoping that fellow Tweeple would help her discover their identities.
I took this photo as we were leaving #NotreDame about an hour before it caught on fire. I almost went up to the dad and asked if he wanted it. Now I wish I had. Twitter if you have any magic, help him find this 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/pEu33ubqCK
— Brooke Windsor (@brookeawindsor) April 16, 2019
Windsor has stated that she cannot confirm if the man and the girl were indeed father and daughter, but it was the dynamic between them that made her feel so. Ever since she posted the photo, the image has gone viral, garnering over 66,000 shares.
Windsor has also said that she was present when the fire broke out, and she watched in complete horror, like hundreds of other people who were present on site.
Her photo is being hailed as "historic" and one of the most meaningful photos to have emerged after the Notre Dame fire. This is what some of the netizens have to say:
I hope twitter does have some magic, that is a great picture.
— James Widmer (@Racer92_5) April 16, 2019
I am so happy 400+ people have liked this retweet. It gets it out there to find that dad and daughter before. . .
— James Widmer (@Racer92_5) April 16, 2019
I want to see this as a feel good news story within the next 24 hrs that this picture makes it to that family pic.twitter.com/b78oxkYJdL
— keo (@okaitlin) April 16, 2019
So sad to see the building looking serine and safe in the sun. Just before this dreadful disaster.
— Theodora Wayte (@Theodora8) April 16, 2019
This has easily become my favorite photograph of Notre Dame. I hope you find the father in the photo. Alors on espère xx
— Quee(r)n (@largeskeleton) April 16, 2019
As Windsor said, this is a memory anyone would like to cherish. All she wants to do is help unite the dad and daughter with the photo, one that they'll probably like to hold on to. One can only hope.