Man Left as an Infant with Note from His Mom Is Surprised Years Later

A man who was found crying as an infant in his crib alongside a harrowing note from his mom has been reunited with his younger brother decades later.

During a recent episode of the U.K. television show Long Lost Family, Lee Sharp, 56 — who runs a vintage clothing store in the town of Eastbourne on England’s southeast coast — attempted to find his birth mother, but got a heartwarming surprise when he was instead reunited with his older brother, Stephen Sandison, per a press release obtained by PEOPLE.

Sharp was told by his [adoptive] parents growing up that he had been abandoned as a baby by a young Irish girl in an apartment block in London. The show’s researchers ended up finding his birth mother’s birth certificate, which listed her as a married woman still living in the U.K. capital.

Sharp headed to an apartment in west London on the show, which is where he’d spent the first few days of his life.

“Absolutely mind blown. Now I know where I lived. My birth mother, I hope she’s alive. Any siblings, any answers, anything would be great,” he said of seeing his first home.

The team was unfortunately unable to locate Sharp’s birth mom, but did find his older brother, Stephen Sandison, living in Inverness, Scotland.

After host Nicky Campbell asked Sandison — who grew up with his paternal grandparents — whether he knew of a younger brother, he said he didn’t, but said bits from his own childhood history might explain why.

Recalling a story that his grandmother had told him as a child, Sandison said, “My dad had come back from work and had found me crying in the [crib] with a small note from my [mom] saying ‘it’s him [Sandison] or me [Sandison’s mom],’ and it was decided to approach my grandparents to see if they would look after me.”

Sandison said his father had died over 30 years ago, and he hadn’t been in touch with his mom since then. He explained on the show that he knew both his parents, but they were very much in the background of his life.

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Ahead of the brothers’ reunion, Sharp said of finding out he had a sibling, “I thought I was dropped from space. I just thought there was no one like me in the world… but there is, apparently.”