Twitter Helps Find Man, Girl Behind Happy Photo Outside Notre-Dame Paris

As Notre-Dame in Paris, France, burned on April 15, social media was flooded with memories from people from around the world who have visited the iconic 13th Century house of worship.

One such memory was shared by a woman who had visited the church just hours before the tragedy struck. Brooke Windsor posted a photo on Twitter of an unknown man joyfully picking up a child and swinging her around by the arms right outside Notre-Dame cathedral.

She asked Twitter users on Tuesday to help find the two so she could share the "dynamic" photo with them.

"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," she wrote alongside the photo.

Ms Windsor wrote that she does not know if the man and girl are related. She added that the photo was taken at 5:57pm CET.

-We walked to the Louvre afterwards. My friends noticed the smoke, and we followed (2/?) pic.twitter.com/l76nF0jAIv

— Brooke Windsor (@brookeawindsor) April 16, 2019

Twitter users indeed worked their magic by making the post viral and the woman was finally contacted by the man in the photo who thanked her and chose to remain anonymous.

On Thursday, she wrote: "The search is over! The photo has reached the dad and family. He has chosen to remain anonymous in the wake of tragedy, and writes: 'Thanks again for that beautiful photo, we will find a special place for it' Thank you to everyone who has shared the picture and for your kind words."

"He reached out to me here on Twitter. I knew y'all could do it," she added.

Thousands of Parisians and tourists watched in horror on Monday as flames engulfed a monument that has symbolised Paris for nearly a millennium, toppling the spire and gutting a large part of the roof. Over 400 firefighters took part in the 15-hour battle to contain the fire. The firefighters succeeded to stop the fire's spread to the two bell towers, prevent their collapse and save the artwork at the back of the cathedral.