Long-lost grandson in emotional reunion with family in Blackpool after 25 years

The 89-year-old former auxiliary nurse’s beloved grandson, Matthew, was just a baby when he was whisked away to Australia by his mum following the tragic diving death of his dad in the Irish Sea more than 25 years ago.

The family lost touch, and she said she had come to accept that she would never see her late son’s only child again.

But little did she know Matthew had been searching for her since he turned 18 more than 10 years ago, and had set up a profile on genealogy company website ancestry.com, where by chance he found his aunt - Irene’s daughter - Linda, 65, just a few days after the turn of the new year.

She had been looking for him too.

“For years we had tried to find him. We just didn’t know where to start,” she said.

“Even when he was older, I thought to myself he’s going to be online because that’s what young people do, but still I had no luck. Every road was a dead end.

“Meanwhile my mum thought she’d never see him again.

“I used to say to her, if he’s anything like his dad, one day he will knock at the door. He will find us when he’s old enough. I was always convinced that he would find us one day.”

At first Linda thought it was too good to be true and suspected she was being scammed, but after chatting with Matthew online she realised he was the nephew she had been searching for.

Matthew. now 28, said: “I was overwhelmed that not only was she alive, but I found out my grandmother was too.

“It was unreal. It was like something out of a movie. There’s nothing out there that could explain how happy we were that we had found each other.

“I knew in my heart that there was no giving up. Persistence beats resistance, and that’s the way my father was.