A nan was reunited with her long lost brother for the first time in 17 years after he suddenly disappeared.
Lillian Carlton, 65, thought her brother John Ellington was dead when her family never heard from him again after he left her late sister's house 17 years ago. Despite having advanced dementia, John, 77, who is a resident at Aaron Grange Care Home in Huyton, recalled how he drifted apart from his family and reminisced about his childhood in Prescot with them.
John said it would be his Christmas wish to see his family again - a wish that has now come true thanks to the determination of staff at the care home.
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Lillian, originally from Prescot and living in St Helens, told the ECHO: "I thought he was dead. The last time I saw him was at my sister Ann's house and he just disappeared one day. He walked away from everything."
After John shared his Christmas wish with staff at the care home, activities coordinator, Amy Muscatelli, carers Sue Myler and Donna McKenna, and customer relations officer for the Hill Care Group, Ellen Sharp, came up with a plan to share an appeal on Facebook on John's behalf.
The post read: "I work for a care home in Huyton and have a resident whose Christmas wish is to get back in touch with his family, so I am appealing for some help, does anyone know of Ann or Joan, sisters of John Ellington, if you could get in touch you would be making an elderly man's dream come true. Merry Christmas."
More than 2,000 people shared the post and messages soon came flooding in from those that knew John or his family. Lillian's friend soon passed the message onto her and she visited the care home the next day, December 13, to be reunited with her brother for the first time in 17 years.
Lillian said: "I was very nervous but excited and emotional. I just thought 'I've got my brother back' it was a mix of emotions. I couldn't believe it.
"Seeing John again, my whole childhood has come flooding back to me, with some amazing memories. I’m so overwhelmed.
“John has a lot of nieces and nephews who are really excited to be reunited with him. They never called him Uncle John when growing up, they called him soldier John."
Despite his advanced dementia, Lillian said John remembered who she was and shared an old joke that he used to say when he returned home from his job as a chef in the army. The last time the siblings saw each other was around 17 years ago at their late sister Ann's house.
Lillian said: "He just disappeared one day and nobody heard from him. I always thought they fell out.
"When we were at the home I asked him 'why did you go out of my life?' Because we were always close when he came home from the army on leave.
"I said 'where have you been?' He said 'I haven't been so far away, I've been right here.' He said 'I went out for spuds and a pint one day and never went back.'
“John was in the army for over 18 years and then, when he left, he would holiday around the world – Turkey being his favourite destination. Because there were nine of us, it was hard to keep in contact all the time.
"Anne, our eldest sister, was the peacekeeper of the family and any family gatherings would be organised by her. When she passed away, these happened less and less."
Lillian said her eldest sons remember John from their childhoods and are excited to be reunited with him after Christmas.
Lillian added: "I'll never be able to thank the staff for everything they've done it's incredible."
Amy Muscatelli, activities coordinator at Aaron Grange Care Home, said: “John was over the moon we were able to find Lillian and arrange the meet up. He was blown away we were able to get them back in contact and so thankful the staff had gone to the trouble of fulfilling his Christmas wish.
“We’re all so pleased for John and his family. We all cried happy tears together when they were finally reunited.”
Ellen Sharp, customer relations officer for the Hill Care Group, said: “I would like to thank those who helped share the post on Facebook, particularly the “Chat and Share Prescot” group and the “Rainhill Rocks” group, which are some of the communities the post reached and helped lead us to Lillian. Without them we couldn’t have brought John and his family back together again.”
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