I was adopted as a child – what I discovered decades later about my birth family was shocking

He was so close – and yet so far.

A woman who searched for her birth family for years after being adopted as a child was shocked to discover her grandfather lived down the street.

“He happened to live near my house, it was a five minute walk,” said Sammie Wilson, 41, of the startling discovery, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Adopted at the age of five, Wilson didn’t learn about her past until she was 16.

And when the Briton turned 18, she was able to use her own birth records – leading to a decision to search for her long-lost relatives.

Fortunately, Wilson, who hails from St Helens, England but lives in Blackpool, was successfully reunited with her mum and dad.

But then her family announced that her grandfather, Cyril Fletcher, had been by her side the whole time. She was understandably shocked after she went to visit him and discovered how close he really was.

“I could have passed him on the street,” recounted Wilson, who eventually “got up the courage to knock on the door.”

Despite not seeing each other for 20 years, her grandfather knew exactly who she was. “I don’t know how he ended up here from St Helens and he’s had a stroke so I can’t really speak, I want to find out more,” Wilson said.

Unfortunately, her reunion with her parents was more short-lived than Wilson would have hoped. Her mother died of pneumonia aged 62 after some “beautiful years together” – especially towards the end – while her father died of cancer aged 47, just five months after seeing his pride and joy again.

“It was nice to reconnect, I wish we could have lasted longer,” lamented the mother of four, who managed to make the most of the short time she had with him.

Wilson explained, “[In that time] he got to meet my oldest child, he saw the birth of his first grandchild and he watched me get married.”

The loss of her parents has inspired the Briton to track down her remaining relatives so she can spend as much time with them as possible. First on her agenda is tracking down her grandfather’s brother, Roy, who she doesn’t know much about, except that he may still be in St Helens.

“Hey [Roy] is the last of my biological family,” Wilson explained. “I’ve already lost my dad, my mom, my aunt, and there’s another kid in a picture I have with Roy, and I want to know who the kid is.”

She added, “It would be great to find my real family because I have children I want to meet. Family is everything to me.â€