A Man Was Left as an Infant Alongside a Harrowing Note from His Mom. Decades Later, He Gets a Heartwarming Surprise

A man who was discovered crying as an infant in his crib, alongside a heartbreaking note from his mother, has been reunited with his younger brother decades later.

On a recent episode of the U.K. television show Long Lost Family, 56-year-old Lee Sharp, who runs a vintage clothing store in Eastbourne on England’s southeast coast, set out to find his birth mother—but instead received a heartwarming surprise when he was reunited with his older brother, Stephen Sandison, according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE.

Growing up, Sharp was told by his adoptive parents that he had been abandoned as a baby by a young Irish woman in a London apartment block. Researchers for the show eventually located his birth mother’s birth certificate, which listed her as a married woman still living in the U.K. capital.

Sharp returned to an apartment in west London—the very place where he had spent the first few days of his life.

“Absolutely mind blown. Now I know where I lived. My birth mother, I hope she’s alive. Any siblings, any answers, anything would be great,” he said upon seeing his first home.

While the team was unable to locate Sharp’s birth mother, they did track down his older brother, Stephen Sandison, who lives in Inverness, Scotland.

When host Nicky Campbell asked Sandison—who had been raised by his paternal grandparents—if he was aware of a younger brother, he admitted that he wasn’t. But fragments of his own childhood helped explain the situation.

Recalling a story his grandmother had shared, Sandison said, “My dad had come back from work and had found me crying in the [crib] with a small note from my [mom] saying ‘it’s him [Sandison] or me [Sandison’s mom],’ and it was decided to approach my grandparents to see if they would look after me.”

Sandison revealed that his father passed away over 30 years ago and that he hadn’t been in touch with his mother since. He explained that while he knew both of his parents, they had remained largely in the background of his life.

Ahead of their reunion, Sharp reflected on discovering he had a sibling: “I thought I was dropped from space. I just thought there was no one like me in the world… but there is, apparently.”