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A man from Mbombela in Mpumalanga has been reunited with his parents and brothers after 49 years.
Leon van Wyk, who’s a manager at The Puzzle Coffee Shop & Beauty Salon in die city, was adopted as child.
A friend, who’d heard about his wish to trace his biological parents, helped Leon in his search.
“I was so nervous I took a tranquilliser before I got onto the plane,” he said.
Leon met his mom on 11 September.
“My mom was also nervous, and worried that I would blame her.” Leon’s mom was left paralysed by a stroke three years ago and is wheelchair-bound.
“When she saw me she started to cry. I went to give her a hug around the neck. We were meeting at the Wimpy and then decided to have something to eat there too.
“During the meal she kept looking at me and she said she was very glad to see that I’d been brought up so well my adoptive parents.” Leon celebrates his birthday on 14 September and the family reunion trip was his gift to himself.
“My mom stays a short distance out of town. Later I took the bus to Humansdorp to meet my father and brother.”
Leon says he was amazed by how much he looked like his brother. “You can very clearly see our family features,” he explained.
“The bus dropped me off and I phoned that they could come fetch me. I saw my brother first and I started to cry as we were hugging each other. He’s my only blood brother. We clicked immediately.”
Leon then went along with his brother to his father’s house.
“I was excited but also very nervous. When we walked in, my dad was standing already. He started to cry when he saw me.”
Leon also shed a lot of tears during their reunion. “They arranged a surprise braai for me.”
“My dad looked at me every now and then, saying how happy he was that I’d come.” On Wednesday afternoon Leon returned home to Mbombela.
He says he talks daily to at least one family member, especially his dad.
