Last look on Facebook finds long lost daughter

Paul Osborne, 59, who now lives at a cottage at Durris, near Banchory in Aberdeenshire, was diagnosed with stage two lung cancer last summer when one of his lungs was removed.

But he told yesterday how his illness had provided the inspiration to complete his search for his daughter Stephanie, with whom he lost contact when she moved away from her home in Leeds with her mother when she was aged just seven.

Mr Osborne said: "When I was diagnosed last year, I knew I could either give up or I could live every day as if it were my last.

"I wasn't able to be very active but I had to do something, so I decided to learn how to use the computer properly."

His determination paid off when he finally traced his daughter through the social networking site last week.

"I was sure this was likely to be my last chance of finding Stephanie, so when I found her on Facebook I was absolutely delighted," he said.

"It took me a while to find the right page, but when I saw one of her school photos on the site, I knew it was my daughter.

"She looked like her mother - I recognised her straight away."

And, after contacting Stephanie through Facebook, father and daughter were reunited for the first time in two decades last weekend.

At the emotional reunion a delighted Mr Osborne discovered he also had a seven-year-old grandson, Oliver.

He said: "It was so emotional. Stephanie cried a lot, but it was fantastic. It was just as though we had never been apart.

"She was always a daddy's girl when she was younger and nothing has changed.

"Finding out I had a grandson was also amazing. It is going to give me an excuse to buy a train set."

Mr Osborne said he and his daughter had originally made contact by telephone after exchanging messages on Facebook, confirming that they were related.

"It turns out she went on to my profile and found out I was born in Leeds along with my date of birth," he said.

"She put two and two together and asked if I was her dad. She phoned me and could hardly speak for crying."

Mr Osborne added that his daughter had been devastated when she was told he was suffering from cancer.

But they were both determined to make the most of their time together.

He said: "She was gutted when I told her the news.

"I don't think she knows how bad it was, but I feel fine and I cherish every waking moment I have now."

Mr Osborne added: "When I was diagnosed with cancer, it made me more determined to try to find her because I didn't know just how long I had left.

"I thought it would have been nice to get in touch and say, 'You had a dad', before I died."We had a fabulous weekend and got back the closeness we had before."