‘I prayed for him every night’: Limerick mum meets son after 53 years
Story of Limerick mum's reunion with son goes viral with over 1.5m views on TikTok
A LIMERICK mum who was reunited with her son after 53 years said she prayed for him every night and loved him all her life.
The incredible story of how a former British soldier, now living in Germany, found his birth mother in Ballysheedy has touched over 1.5m people on Tik Tok.
Mark Balls, now 53, was adopted as a baby and raised by his loving adoptive parents in London. He was told at the age of 10 that he was adopted – but, out of respect for the man and woman who raised him, he chose not to pursue his biological family until after his adoptive parents had died.
Mr Balls, who has six children, asked for his daughters’ help in finding his birth mother for his 50th birthday. The videos and photos are courtesy of his daughter Amanda Gaese.
They gave him a gift of a MyHeritage DNA test which would ultimately set him on a path that would finally see him connect with his Limerick family.
Through a complicated chain of messages involving a newly-discovered cousin in Greece as well as other relatives in Australia and Reading, Mr Balls eventually received an email to say that Phyllis O’Neill was his mother – and that he had two blood brothers in Limerick - Jason and James.
Mark's mother was 18 and living in Hampstead, London when she gave birth to him. Fearing judgement over the situation which was common at the time, she kept the pregnancy secret and gave him up for adoption to an Irish family who lived less than 30 minutes away.
She and Mark's father, Pat, later married and had two more children - Jason and James.
Five weeks after receiving the news, Mr Balls travelled to Ballysheedy to meet his long-lost Limerick family, originally from Fedamore, this month.
“It was unbelievable. I was taken in straight away and accepted as one of the family. It was like a missing piece of a jigsaw, it felt so natural and like we had always known each other,” said Mark.
Mum, Phyllis and brother Jason, aged 38, who lives in Croom and James, 37, who resides in Ballysheedy with his mum, felt the exact same.
Phyllis said Mark was on her and husband Pat’s minds all their lives “even though we kept it to ourselves”.
“I just wish that his dad was there to meet him. He was definitely looking down on us,” said Phyllis.
She said she loved Mark all her life.
Jason said when his mum told himself and James they had another brother they both gave her a big hug.
“We lost our father in 2012 so we were after losing a part of the family and then to have a brother coming back into the family, this is brilliant news for us,” said James.
He said the visit of Mark and his family was just like a piece of the family coming.
“He just fit straight in. It was amazing,” said James. Plans are already being made to travel to Germany to see Mark and a return visit to Limerick as they all have lots of catching up to do.
DNA test and historical records are available through MyHeritage.com