Local News

DANIA BEACH (CBS4) ― Elizabeth and Randell Doane arrived at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport around 7 pm Monday with a hankering for fast food and a newfound understanding of American freedoms.

The Doane kids -- brother Bryan flew directly to Africa for another trip -- were quarantined in China for a week due to fears over the H1N1 virus. A passenger on the plane the trio flew to China on two weeks ago was suspected of having the illness. As soon as the Doanes arrived, all three kids were holed up in a Chinese hotel for a week, enduring stuffy rooms, little food and constant medical prodding from workers they called "moon people."

"Our biggest fear is that we were put in a hospital where we would actually get sick," Elizabeth told reporters. "We were really scared."

Photos the kids e-mailed home showed workers dressed in spacesuits taking the teens' temperatures.

"Twice a day they checked our temperature," Randell said. "If we were just one degree above normal temperature they'd take us away to a hospital."

The teens were not allowed to open their windows for fear of contaminating others. However at no point did any of the Doane kids -- or any of the other 7 children from their People to People tour group -- test positive for any illness. Rebecca Doane said her kids told her it was so hot in their hotel rooms, the kids soaked themselves in the shower in their clothes so they could lie more comfortably at night.

The Doane kids say they passed the time by playing games.

"We came up with games like guess that expression," Elizabeth said. "We all had to wear (surgical) masks so we played sort of charades. We tried to make our eyes stand still and frown and people would try and guess what we had behind the masks."

After 7 days in quarantine, the kids were finally cleared to travel through China. They saw the Great Wall and other sites but looked forward to returning home.

Mom Rebecca waited anxiously at the airport, showing photos of the kids' ordeal to reporters. After two weeks of worrying, son Randell called his mother as soon as the plane taxied to the gate at FLL. He told his mother he wanted to go to a drive-thru and order a cheeseburger. Rebecca's faced beamed and she told him "See you in a few minutes. I love you."

Minutes later, Elizabeth and Randell walked around a corner towards the waiting area, Rebecca's arms went up in the air and she ran to meet her children. The kids fell into her arms. It was an embrace two weeks in the making.

"Prayers can be answered," Rebecca said.

Randell said he hopes to return to China soon, possibly next year. Elizabeth is not so sure. But both Doane kids and their mother believe as strange as it seems, the way this ordeal worked out might have been the most educational trip possible. The kids seem to have learned that sometimes the worst and most terrifying experiences are the ones that teach the most.

"As much as I really disliked it I think it was a good experience and I'm glad I went through it because it actually opened my eyes to some American values," Elizabeth said. "I always took for granted the freedoms that we have like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion."

Rebecca agreed.

"They start to realize how incredibly fortunate they are to live in the United States and that's really the biggest lesson," she said. "That's not something you can learn by climbing the Great Wall of China."

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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