‘I was abandoned as a baby on Christmas Eve – 80 years later I found my brother living a mile away’ | EUROtoday

On Christmas Eve in 1944, as London was hit by the extreme bombing of the “Baby Blitz”, John Moore was left deserted on the road. Just days outdated, he was picked up by a policeman and brought to St Thomas’s Hospital – however his origins and particulars of his household remained a thriller.

Four years later, he was adopted right into a loving household in Kennington, south London, the place he lived a “happy” childhood. Between faculty and serving to his neighbours with their market stalls on weekends, his busy life left little time for questioning the place he had come from.

Little did he know that his organic father and his half-brother, Lucas Borg, who was born 11 years after Mr Moore, have been dwelling only a mile away in Kennington. The pair grew up inside touching distance however remained unaware of one another’s existence till a Christmas current from Lucas’s daughter modified all the pieces.

“I had a happy life,” Mr Moore advised The Independent. “I had a wonderful mother and father and two brothers. My only concern growing up was: did my biological family know that I survived, that I was safe and had a good life?

“I never really thought much about how to find my biological family,” he defined. “I wouldn’t have known how.”

Decades handed, and the 2 half-brothers every began their very own households. The first inkling of their shared heritage got here when Mr Moore’s son took a DNA check via his work and found he had Maltese heritage.

Curious in regards to the revelation, Mr Moore determined to take an identical at-home check from a distinct supplier to see if it gave him the identical final result. The outcomes have been definitive – considered one of his dad and mom, who had all the time been a thriller to him, was from Malta.

Several years later, Mr Borg’s daughter Ella acquired a MyHeritage DNA check as a Christmas current from her husband, Ryan. She was astonished to discover a shut match with a person she had by no means heard of – a person who additionally had Maltese heritage and had hyperlinks to south London. It was sufficient to persuade Mr Borg to take a check himself.

“It came back a 50 per cent match with John,” Mr Borg, now aged 70, stated. “It was a surprise because I’d always wanted a brother or sister, but my mother couldn’t have any more children.

“It was such a shock.”

Mr Moore, now aged 80, was additionally surprised to find he had a household he had by no means recognized. “I didn’t expect anything from the DNA as regards to family because of the time factor,” he stated. “You know, if anybody had been part of me, they could have now passed on. It’s been so many years.”

The pair reached out to one another and commenced to share tales and recollections. On Easter Sunday this yr, they met in individual for the primary time in what they described as an “emotional” and “nerve-wracking” reunion.

“I was very nervous at first,” Mr Moore stated. “I didn’t know whether to shake Lucas’s hand or give him a hug because you’ve never met a person that’s half your genes.”

But dialog flowed, they usually quickly learnt that they had putting similarities of their upbringing – from frequenting Manor Place swimming baths in Kennington, to the pie and mash store the place they have been regulars.

Mr Moore found his organic father, George, had come to the UK from Malta when he was 18 with nothing however a bit of cheese and a slice of bread.

George, who couldn’t communicate English when he arrived, went on to serve within the Merchant Navy and is remembered by Mr Borg as a “kind” and “humble” household man.

The pair stated it has “taken time” to go from feeling like strangers to brothers, however that they’re glad to have been reunited via the DNA check.

“It’s quite incredible how close we were, but so far apart at the same time,” Mr Moore stated.

“It’s a shame that George, our father, didn’t know that John was around, because he would have treated him as a son as well,” Mr Borg added. “He was that sort of person. He was a very nice person, and he would have embraced John as his son.”