Dave Green, 60, was a bus station supervisor at Manchester Airport when he realised Andrea Urmston, who came into the station regularly to fill up vending machines, was his sibling. The pair had bonded over an interest in motorbikes and had been friends for two years, before a chat about fostering in 2007 led Mr Green to reveal he had been adopted.
Discovery of the connection
Ms Urmston, 53, told him her brother had been put up for adoption - and when they talked through the details, they realised they had the same mother. Mr Green told the BBC: “People don’t meet like that, it’s not what happens in everyday life, but ours are not everyday lives any more.”
Meeting their mother
Mr Green went on to meet his biological mother, Susan, who gave birth to him when she was 15 - and found he had driven past her home in Altrincham, Trafford, regularly as a bus driver. Ms Urmston said the first meeting between her brother and their mother was “amazing”. She said: “It was just something she had wanted so much and she just couldn’t believe it. It was a surreal moment, there was lots of tears and then we all just hugged. I couldn’t believe that I’d got my brother and my mum together.”
Shared history and traits
Mum Susan kept a picture of Dave on the mantlepiece as a baby, which had been sent to her just days after the adoption was finalised. Growing up, the exact same photograph was proudly displayed in Dave's own house. Dave learnt he was adopted aged 10 when his parents had shown him the paperwork - but said he enjoyed a very happy childhood, and had never attempted to track down his birth mother. Susan had later made efforts to find her son with the help of the Salvation Army, but had not turned up any results.
Dave and Andrea have found that despite growing up apart they share similar tastes - including taking their tea the same way, and having a love of “tomato sauce butties”. Mr Green said: “I have always thought it’s not what you have in your life it’s who you have in your life. Somebody or something gave me the thumbs up that day and things will never be the same again, things haven’t been the same for 20 years and they’re not going to be ever again because I’ve got the one thing in my life that I need to make it special.”
