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Abandoned 71 years ago, woman seeks help to find identity
Tuesday December 28, 2010 07:50:35 PM,
IANS
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London: Abandoned in a
hotel doorway in Britain 71 years ago when she was just three
months old, a woman has made an emotional appeal to the public to
help her find out who she is, a media report said Tuesday.
Pat Fitzgerald was dumped in a plush hotel doorway just after the
start of World War II. She has spent a lifetime not knowing the
identity of her parents - and if she has any brothers and sisters,
Daily Mail reported.
She returned to the hotel Monday in a desperate bid to solve the
mystery of who she really is.
Pat said: "I've waited years to find out who I am. The world has
changed a lot - and I hope someone, somewhere now will give me the
answer.
"I know it's a long shot after all this time. But I have to try.
"Someone may have been keeping the secret for all these years -
but now is the time to come into the open."
Pat was found wrapped in blankets on the steps of the Royal Hotel
in Cardiff's city centre in December 1939.
She then spent months in hospital before being adopted by a loving
family. But it wasn't until Pat was 27 that she discovered the
truth about how she was found.
The retired clerk said: "I would guess my mother was a young woman
whose circumstances must have been absolutely desperate to abandon
me in the middle of winter.
"She must have been at the end of her tether. But at least she
wrapped me up warmly and made sure she left me in a place where I
would be found quite quickly."
Pat was adopted by steelworker Peter Ross and his wife Edith and
spent a happy childhood with them at their home.
Today she has four children and six grandchildren of her own - but
desperately wants to solve the mystery of her "lost family".
Divorcee Pat said: "I have made various appeals over the years
including getting the Salvation Army and children's charities
involved.
"An anonymous caller claimed she knew a woman who may have been my
sister, but it ended up like everything else - a dead end."
Pat's only connection with her past is the Royal Hotel where staff
gave her VIP treatment to mark the anniversary of the night she
was found.
Hotel manager Jon Swingler presented her with an engraved plate
reading: "To our Royal lady, given to us on 15th December 1939."
He said: "We would love to help this lovely lady solve the mystery
of her life."
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