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Update: Hannah found her dad!

After a 16-year search for the man who never knew he had a daughter, a Facebook post brought Hannah Ryan and her dad together
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This Facebook post by Hannah Ryan led her to her biological dad who didn't know she existed. Facebook photo

Hannah Ryan had been searching for her biological father for 16 years with no luck.

Saturday, a day after reaching out for help on Facebook, she found him.

She has also found two brothers and a sister she never knew she had.

"It's amazing. After 16 years of searching, in one day I was able to find this man. If (Facebook creator) Mark Zuckerberg was here I'd give him a big hug!" Ryan said Sunday morning on the phone from her home in Ladysmith, B.C.

Ryan, who grew up in Australia, posted a picture of herself late Friday holding a sign explaining the details of her search. That posting was eventually shared over 60,000 times in just over a day.

In 1984 her mother Karen was in Guelph for a few weeks working as a nanny. After a night out at a Guelph bar and an "alcohol fuelled" romantic encounter with a tall, handsome blonde man named Dave and a last name that sounded like "Pinnochio," she left Ontario only to find out two months later she was pregnant.

The only other information her mother could provide was that the man had worked at a university in Waterloo.

The man never knew he had fathered Ryan until Saturday.

A comment on her Facebook post led her to a Hamilton man.

"There was a photo on his Facebook page and I sent it to my mom (in Australia) and said 'does this look like him?' She said 'yeah, it's possible,'" Ryan said.

A Facebook message to the man wasn't replied to, so she looked him up on 411.

After staring at the phone for a long, long time to "summon up the courage," she cold-called him.

"I just said 'I don't really know how to put this, so I'm just going to blurt it all out,'" Ryan said. "He said 'oh my god, I remember that night!'"

The man, who Ryan doesn't want to name publicly without his permission, recounted some details that only he and her mom would have known, including the colour of the car she was driving that night almost 33 years ago. Even Ryan hadn't known that until verifying it with her mom.

The man was obviously surprised, but it was all good.

"He was very open and excited and thrilled," said Ryan, who has already talked to one of her brothers.

"It's going to take a couple of days to process it all," said Ryan, who is eight months pregnant with her second child.

"I was nervous. I think I over-prepared for the worst. This has just been an amazing experience," she said.

"I want to thank everyone who shared the story. I wouldn't have found him if it wasn't for you."

Ryan has plans to eventually meet her new family.

"It just restores your faith in humanity," she said.

 

 


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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