This is the emotional moment when a father-of-one is reunited with his older brother from whom he was separated as a child, on Long Lost Family.
Murray Phillips, 49, grew up in a children’s home in Staffordshire with his brother Ricky, who tucked him in every night before the couple were adopted together.
But after three years with their adoptive parents, Ricky, who was having a difficult relationship with his mother, was taken back under the wing. Murray, who was just nine years old at the time, said he didn’t understand that he would never see his brother again.
From the age of 18, the owner of a Tamworth sports bar began to look for Ricky, but he kept running into a dead end.
Murray Phillips (left) had been looking for his big brother Ricky Barnes (right) since he was 18 years old after the couple split as children
Murray Phillips (left) and Ricky Barnes (right) were incredibly close as kids growing up in a care home
Murray Phillips, 49, from Tamworth, is now a father of one with an adult daughter who owns a sports bar
Ricky Barnes has lived in British Columbia, Canada for the past 20 years after moving there to work as a carpenter
More than 40 years after their divorce, the team behind the ITV program finally managed to locate Ricky – who has lived in Canada for the past two decades after moving there to become a carpenter.
Reflecting on his years-long search for his brother, Murray told Davina McCall, “Ricky was everything to me. He took care of me and he would always protect me.’
He added: ‘I missed him every day.’
After Davina broke the news, the team found that Ricky, Murray, who is engaged to Jenny, burst into tears when he said it was the “best day of the life.” [his] life,” except for the day his daughter Laura was born.
Ricky Barnes is recovering from a stroke at a residential care facility in British Columbia, where he has learned to walk and talk again.
After 40 years without his younger brother, Ricky still called his brother “my Murray.”
Speaking to presenter Nicky Campbell, Ricky said he and his brother Murray were ‘connected at the hip’ as children.
As soon as he turned 18, Murray started looking for his brother Ricky but had no luck until he got in touch with the ITV program
Describing his brother as ‘the curly-haired boy who has a smile to light up my life’, adding that the pair had been joined at the hips like children.
However, when Ricky first saw a picture of Murray in the present day, he realized that his younger sibling’s curly locks were not as he remembered.
Laughing, he said to presenter Nicky Campbell: ‘Bald head! Like me.’
He added: ‘Happy, happy, happy.’
Ricky explained why he had been returned to the care home and claimed that his adoptive mother beat him with a pan after he stole from her.
After describing how Social Services took him away, Ricky claimed he tried to contact Murray from the orphanage, but when he called the house, his adoptive mother hung up the phone.
When Murray was told the reasons Ricky went back to the care home, he said he wished he had been told the truth at the time and that he had chosen to go back into care with his big brother.
Despite four decades apart and about 4,500 miles between them, the brothers still seem to share a sense of humor as Murray made a similar joke about Ricky’s hairline when he first saw a photo of him.
“I wouldn’t be the man I am today without him and I want to thank him for that,” Murray said in tears, before thanking the team for finding him.
When the couple were finally reunited, Murray explained that he only remembered a small part of being in the orphanage, and that he didn’t realize what had happened to his older brother until he was an adult.
“I could see the spark in his eyes and he looked at me the same way, ‘we’re brothers again,'” Murray said.
Ricky explained to his brother that he wanted to protect him after he returned to the orphanage – and told Murray that he had tried to make contact decades ago when they were children, but his adoptive mother.
After catching up on their families, Murray gifted his brother a Liverpool FC shirt, which had always been Ricky’s team as a child.
Ricky also gifted his brother in an album of family photos, including some of his daughter, Phoebe.
He told Murray that his daughter was an “incredibly fast” footballer who could play with her right foot and her left foot.
Murray replied, ‘Take after me, then.’
Murray told the camera, ‘I’ve got my big brother back. It’s fantastic.’