The joyful smiles on their faces say it all. After 33 years apart, sisters Patricia Williams and Sue Te oottran have been reunited at last – and it’s all thanks to New Zealand Woman’s Weekly readers.
As kids growing up in a family home filled with violence and fear, before being put into separate foster care, the sisters swore they’d always be there for each other when times were tough.
Sadly, they lost contact when Sue moved to Australia in 1977. They both made fruitless attempts to track the other down and eventually resigned themselves to never seeing each other again.
Then recently, Sue, who lives alone in Noosa and is disabled with severe osteoporosis, was diagnosed with cancer. It was the motivation she needed to make one final attempt to find Patricia, now living in Greymouth.
Thanks to the internet, she tracked down a distant family member in Wellington who passed on her phone number to Patricia.
Patricia had actually given up trying to find Sue because she was terrified she would discover that her beloved sister had died.
It was a huge relief for her to know Sue was alive – but devastating to hear about her cancer diagnosis.In a moving story with the Weekly last December, the two revealed how they had talked on the phone and longed to see each other again one more time.
However, Sue’s serious medical conditions hampered her ability to travel, and Patricia, who has four children and lives on an invalid’s benefit, simply couldn’t afford the trip.
Big-hearted Weekly readers immediately rallied around and with so many offers of help, Sue and Patricia’s dream quickly became a reality. Within a couple of weeks, Patricia was on her way to Australia to see her sister.
As soon as she arrived at Sue’s house, an excited Patricia rushed inside, saying, “I’m here!”
Sue admits she didn’t want to believe it was really Patricia until she had actually set eyes on her.
“It was unreal,” says Sue, looking back on the emotional moment last month. “We had a big hug and I was thinking it couldn’t possibly be happening. I burst into tears and she was saying over and over, ‘I’m really here Sue, I’m really here.'”
There was no awkwardness as the sisters quickly reverted back to their old companionship.
“We were saying the same things at the same time. We had that connection when we were little girls,” says Sue.
The grateful sisters want to thank the many Weekly readers who offered their support to reunite them, with Patricia adding that sharing her story helped make her dream come true.
“It’s massive that Sue and I have found each other, and it’s amazing being with her after all these years of not knowing whether she’s alive or not. But she is alive, and I’m able to be with her. I can’t thank the people who have helped enough,” smiles Patricia, who also helped Sue celebrate her 59th birthday while she was in Noosa.
“Having Pat here for my birthday was the ultimate gift,” Sue smiles. “I realised that I’m not on my own, I do have family and I do have connections. After all those years of being lost, it’s a big difference.”
The women spent two happy weeks together before saying their goodbyes. But Patricia swears she will return.”I would love to move over there and be with Sue. I do want to go back there again some day.”
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