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Aussie LAD Finds His Long-Lost Dad Nearly A Year After Social Media Call Out

Aussie LAD Finds His Long-Lost Dad Nearly A Year After Social Media Call Out

He wants other people who don't know their family history to start searching because it can produce some incredible results

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Never underestimate the power of social media to come up with the goods. Sure, it's great for stalking your crush (well... within reason, come on guys), finding out about awesome cities and keeping in touch with mates, but it can also help people in ways you could never imagine.

Ryan Jon posted this video nearly a year ago on Mother's Day, hoping it would go viral and help in his quest to find his biological mum.

The Aussie radio host was clearly emotional in the clip as he said: "She gave me my life and I feel like the least I could do is let her live hers. So if this video gets shared around enough and my birth mother views it, I don't expect anything from you, I don't need you to do anything or contact me.

"I just want to thank you for everything and I hope you have a great Mother's Day."

Well, sure enough, the video went absolutely bonkers on Facebook, being viewed more than 11 million times and shared 158,000 times.

People who saw the clip encouraged him to do a DNA test to see if that could yield any answers. It should be noted that Ryan loves his adoptive parents unconditionally and regards them as his mum and dad - he just wants to have a bit more information about his family history.

Ryan with his adoptive mum.
Ryan Jon

After completing the test he found out he was 99 percent European, but more specifically 62 percent Irish and 12 percent British - well, at least that narrows it down a bit.

Once that was done, he enlisted the help of CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogy researcher for the US documentary TV series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

She came back with a name - which wasn't the identity of his mother, but in fact was that of his father.

Ryan sent off a handwritten letter because the bloke didn't have Facebook or even an email address and a week later he received an email from his biological dad.

"I'm so sorry I've missed being part of your life," the email said. "I'm from the USA but I'm currently working in London. If you want, I'll book you and your family flights over here. You can stay with us because what's mine is yours.

"We can spend the festive season together as this is truly a Christmas miracle."

He flew to London with his adoptive mum with excitement in the air.

Ryan says the meeting with his biological dad was 'quite underwhelming' but 'in the nicest way possible'.

"To anyone else, it would have seemed like two mates catching up for a coffee," he told the camera.

Ryan filming his encounter with his dad.
Ryan Jon

The Perth-based presenter was finally told how his dad and mum met and how he was eventually conceived. His father was on a backpacking trip and came across a woman along the way - they both clicked.

He continued on his travels, very unaware that he had just fathered a child.

His newly found dad was worried that Ryan would be upset or disappointed in him for not being there to raise him, but the younger man says that wasn't the case in the slightest.

"Meeting my birth father has been incredible," he said. "I never thought it would ever happen and the only regret I have is that I didn't do it five, 10, 15 years ago, but believe it or not, that's just the beginning of this story."

While Ryan now knows who is birth dad is, he's still on the hunt to find his birth mum. In the meantime, he's encouraging anyone who hasn't met their biological parents to get started with he search because it could lead to an amazing discovery.

Featured Image Credit: Ryan Jon

Topics: Awesome, Family, Interesting, Feels, Community, Australia