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Ananova
:
Taxi
Customer Is Driver's Long Lost Son
BRIGHTON - A
taxi driver was stunned when he realised the man in the back of his
Brighton cab was the son he last saw 34 years ago.
Barry Bagshaw, 61,
was so shocked he had to stop the car and end his shift. His son Colin,
39, a chef, who was about to leave the area for good, had thought his
father was dead.
The pair cracked
opened the champagne to celebrate their extraordinary reunion, made
even more amazing as the pair were living just streets apart.
Barry, of Peacehaven,
near Brighton, said: "I was just utterly dumbfounded. I didn't
recognise him at first but when I did it was fantastic. It certainly
won't be 34 years until I see him again."
The chance meeting
started when Barry, who works for Meridian Taxis in Peacehaven, picked
up a fare at the nearby Brighton Motel.
Barry, who has another
son, Nigel and a daughter, Julie, lost touch with his children when,
while in the Army in Hong Kong, his marriage broke down.
A short time into
the journey, the woman accompanying the man in the back spotted Barry's
identity badge, and noticed he shared her boyfriend's surname of Bagshaw.
He said: "The
woman said 'that's funny, you and my boyfriend have the same surname'.
Then the man asked me if my first name was Barry, and I said yes. He
then said 'I'm Colin'. It was at that point that I realised.
"I was stunned.
I couldn't believe it. I stopped the car and we chatted for a while.
It was an amazing moment, very emotional. A few days later, he came
round to our house and we cracked open the champagne.
"He had been
working in a Brighton hotel but had left to find a job in London. He
was just going back to pick up some things the day I picked him up.
It was so lucky we didn't miss each other. He still wants to work in
London but we'll definitely stay in touch now."
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