Man reunites with brother 58 years after father snatched him from mother's arms during train ride
A man reunited with his brother nearly six decades later after their father snatched him from their mother's arms during a train ride.
The Daily Mirror reported that Peter Macdonald was just 10 weeks old when his mother fled with him and his big brother, Trevor, then two years old, to escape their father.
Just as the train at Preston Railway Station going to London was pulling away, their father turned up on the platform, reached inside the carriage window, and tried to take them.
Trevor couldn't be reached as he was standing behind their mother, but Peter was taken away as the train departed.
And that incident would prevent Peter, now 58, from seeing Trevor and their mother again after that incident.
"My father grabbed me off my mother," he said. "I was in her arms, I was two-and-a-half months old. I’ve never seen my mother again. That was the last time I was with my brother Trevor. I’ve always wanted to find him.”
Peter, a widowed painter and decorator, said his father had placed him in foster care and had been separated from his entire birth family.
He noted that he has always longed for Trevor to meet his family: Julie, who died three years ago, their two daughters, and four grandchildren.
“Trevor’s been on my mind for over 50 years,” he said.
Peter has looked for Trevor ever since learning about his existence when he was seven, the age at which he learned that he was adopted.
"I was too young to understand," he said. "It only really registered when I was 13 or 14. I started to get curious and ask questions, but the answers weren’t there.”
His search had a breakthrough when her daughter, Chloe, wrote to the British television series Long Lost Family.
The show's research team searched for people called Trevor who have the middle initial E (for Edward) and were born in 1963. They found three possible matches.
One of them said he grew up knowing about a younger brother named Peter. Trevor said he and their mother lived in London.
The research team, however, found that she died in 2008, or 17 years ago.
“The first thing that goes through your mind, you're angry," Peter said. "You ask, why? Why did you leave me? Why didn’t you come back? After I found out that she'd passed, I was going to leave the show. I felt like I couldn't do this anymore because I was frightened of what was coming next, that maybe Trevor had passed—and I didn't want to look for anybody else.”
But all is well, with Peter and Trevor finally reuniting.
The Daily Mirror noted that Trevor, a 61-year-old carpenter, said their mother, before dying, told him, "Find Peter."
Befittingly, the brothers will meet on their mother's birthday.
“Mom was a very strict person, money was tight, it was hard," Trevor said. "I knew about my brother. I’ve known about him since I was about nine or 10."
He said their mother didn't speak about Peter much, but whenever it happened, she always wondered how he was.
"Mom thought ‘Leave him where he is, he’s probably better off there,'" he said. "Mum just said she was leaving to go to London and we’d got on the train to get away from my dad. I know she must have been holding Peter, and I must have been standing behind her."
He described the incident as "like something you see in a film.”
When their mother began getting sick, Trevor said she opened up a lot more about that incident from years ago.
"You could see it in her face when she spoke about it," he said. "She always said she regretted it, not going back for him. She did say to me: ‘Find him, look for him.’ A week or so later, she passed away.”
Peter said he feels for their mother, especially since the train incident was "very traumatic." Still, he wondered what would've been if she had kept hold of him and their father hadn't snatched him away.
"Everything would have been the way I wanted it to be. With Trevor," he said.
The Mirror said that as the brothers reunited, both men were tearful and were struck by the extraordinary family resemblance.
“I thought I was on my own,” Peter said. "Hearing that Trevor had been found… I’ve never taken drugs in my life, but it felt like I’d just had a load of drugs. Everything was just ‘wow.' It was amazing. I can’t explain it.”
Trevor told Peter that their mother told him she was sorry for never going after him.
"She never forgot you. She always said ‘Find him’—and you found me," he said.
In response, Peter told Trevor, “I’ve always thought that she never wanted me. Meeting on her birthday is the best present, isn’t it? For mom."
The brothers shared a pint upon meeting, with Peter calling Trevor "Bruv."
Peter also introduced Chloe and her daughter to Trevor.
Upon seeing a photo of their mother, Peter also noted that she looks like Chloe.
“He looks a lot like mom," Trevor said of his niece. "I think she’d be proud of me that I’m seeing him."