Selwyn Times: May 27, 2020

4
Wednesday May 27 2020
News
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
SELWYN TIMES
Family tracks down long-lost brother
• By Devon Bolger
PHIL RADFORD had no idea
his life would change with just
one Facebook message.
Mr Radford, 49, who was
adopted at five-weeks-old, received
a message from a woman
specialising in reconnecting
people – it said he had a sister in
the United Kingdom wanting to
contact him.
“I wasn’t sure if it was a windup
or something. I opened the
message and the thing that made
me think it was real is when I
was five-weeks-old I was adopted
and she had mentioned my birth
name Chris James Dooks.
“I was a bit stunned but
thought why not? Let’s reconnect
and it just sort of went from
there. I ended up talking to my
sister about half an hour later,”
Mr Radford said.
His sister, Becca Main, lives
in York and helped connect him
with his birth mother, also in
York, within a matter of hours.
“It turns out I have got two sisters,
three nieces, two nephews,
a couple of uncles and about five
or six cousins I never knew.
“It has been absolutely amazing.
When it first happened I
wasn’t actually very emotional
about it, I was just numb but now
it has started to kick in. I never
• From page 1
Mrs Deane had gone into labour
while having lunch at Burnham
Military Camp, where her soldier
husband Oliver is based. “I started
feeling pains, like a rubber band
flicking, and then it all happened.”
Oliver drove her to hospital and
was there for the birth of their
“very big” 4.3kg baby.
Stats NZ’s population insights
senior manager Brooke Theyers
said the precise date when we hit
five million also isn’t available yet
but it’s estimated that at March
31 had a resident population of
5,002,100.
Theyers said while the five
million mark could have been
reached by a newborn baby, it was
STUNNED: Phil Radford was adopted as a baby and never knew his birth family until he got a
call from his long-lost sister in the United Kingdom.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN ​
could have expected this.”
He has also spoken directly
with his other sister Nic Dooks
and brother-in-law John Main.
Mr Radford is a member of
the Greendale Golf Club and is
currently living at the site in a
Odette born during lockdown
more likely to be a migrant arriving
on a plane.
Escalating numbers of Covid-19
cases in early March made Mrs
Deane “a bit more paranoid” than
normal preparing for birth.
But she had been reassured by
research showing babies and children
were less likely to catch the
disease and likely to have milder
symptoms.
Mrs Deane said the first weeks
of maternity leave required even
more isolating than normal. She
was only able to have one week of
home midwife visits, and feeding
the baby proved hard without
help from a lactation consultant
but she said both went “above and
beyond” to help her.
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campervan.
He is doing some work on the
clubrooms as a thank you for
letting him stay on the grounds
temporarily.
Mr Radford was raised by his
two loving adoptive parents and
THE ICONIC Hororata pie has
made its way to Christchurch
for the first time.
Made Espresso Bar on Cashel
St, Stat Espresso at Forte Health
and the Kookery Nook Bakery
in Harewood are now offering
the item on their menus.
Hororata Community Trust
executive officer Cindy Driscoll
said it is a positive move for the
community.
“The Hororata pie has been
feeding local legends for years
whether it is after a ski, on the
farm, in a tractor, or at one of
Hororata’s famous events.
“It’s not just the memories the
pie invokes, it’s the taste and
quality ingredients that ensure
was an only child. He moved to
New Zealand from Bradford in
the United Kingdom in 2006.
“My adoptive parents passed
away at quite a young age so that
was quite hard for me. They were
truly amazing. I only really had
the legend status remains,’’ she
said.
When the historic Hororata
Hotel was damaged in the
September 4, 2010, earthquake
no one wanted to see the iconic
pie become just a memory,” Ms
Driscoll said.
“Fortunately for Canterbury,
REUNITED: Phil Radford’s
sister Becca Main (left) who
first contacted him alongside
his mother Rosie Wall and
other sister Nic Dooks.
my cousins on my dad’s side and
they’re all very happy for me.”
He hopes to visit his birth
family in the United Kingdom
sometime next year.
“There is a definite bond there.
It is like we have never been
apart, it is crazy. The sister who
found me and I have become
quite close very quickly.
“My mum just wanted to know
I had gone to a good home. She
had thought about it for 49 years.
I told her my adoptive parents
were fantastic and if they were
still alive I’m sure they would
want to meet her as well,” he said.
Hororata pie outlets now in Chch
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Mrs Hutton’s legendary Hororata
pie recipe was acquired
by locals and in an act of true
philanthropy, they have passed
this local taonga to the Hororata
Community Trust to benefit the
community.”
The Hororata Community
Trust, best known for the
Hororata Highland Games and
Hororata Night Glow, is focused
on helping to improve and promote
the township.
The profits from the pies sold
will go back in to the community.
The Hororata pie is available
locally at GASHororata,
Glentunnel Store and the
Hororata Café.
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