THE emotional story of a North East woman’s efforts to fulfil her mother’s dying wish has been screened nationally.

Lisa Harding’s search to find the sister for many years she did not know she had is featured on ITV’s Long Lost Family.

Mrs Harding, 53, lives in Ebchester, County Durham, with partner Phil and daughter Lea.

She grew up in the region with her single mother, Moyra, who worked long hours as a hairdresser by day and taxi driver at night.

Mrs Harding told presenter Nicky Campbell it was, “a lonely childhood”, and she always wished she had a sister.

Unknown to her, she did, but was never told until she reached her mid-teens.

“Being brought up as an only child is a very lonely thing and I always craved a sibling.

“It’s a feeling that’s deep inside that you’re on your own.”

But, when she was 15-years-old, her mother confided in her.

“She said that at the age of 20, she’d been pregnant, and she’d had a baby girl, who she’d named Alexandra.”

Her mother explained to her that she was unmarried and unable to look after the baby, so she put her up for adoption, but had regretted it ever since.

Mrs Harding described that news as a life-changing revelation.

She told the presenter her reaction was: “Ooh, wow! I actually have a sister, I’m not an only child.”

Decades went by and, as the subject was painful, it was not spoken about again until her mother was dying of cancer.

“It was her dying wish for me to find Alexandra.

“She was loved and wanted, and I wanted her to know that.”

The Long Lost Family team was able to trace ‘Alexandra’, now called Lily Drummond, to Berwick, in Northumberland.

She had never searched for her birth family as she feared her mother must not have wanted her.

In an emotional meeting with Mr Campbell, the presenter told Ms Drummond: “Your mother really felt the pain of it all her life and had tried to find you.”

When she was shown a photo of her sister, she saw an instant connection.

She said: “Oh my God! We’ve got the same nose! Same eyes.

“Yep. Definitely look-alike. Wow!

“Yes, definitely sisters.”

The next day, co-presenter Davina McCall gave Mrs Harding the joyous news that her sister has been found.

She said she was, “Over the moon”.

When shown a picture of her sister, she said: “It’s unbelievable, to be sitting here looking at her.

“As much as I’ve wanted it, I didn’t know this day would ever come.”

Thirty-eighty years after discovering she had a sister, she finally got to meet her on a bittersweet day for both, as their mother was not with them.

In a twist it emerged Ms Drummond had also always wished she had a sister.

“Ever since I was young I used to say: ‘Oh, what it must be like to have a sister’.

“It would have been lovely to grow up and be close to each other.”

Mrs Harding said: “It’s one of the happiest moments of my life.

“She hugged me, and it was just what I’ve thought about from being tiny.

“My big sister will give me a hug and it’ll make everything okay. And it is.

“It’s like … I’m home.”

Long Lost Family, produced by Wall to Wall for ITV, was screened on ITV 1 on Monday evening, but is available for viewing again via the ITV Hub.

 

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