Emotional moment man is reunited with his sister for the first time since she moved to Australia in 1979 – after finances and family commitments kept them apart for 45 years

This is the touching moment a brother and sister were finally reunited after 45 years living on opposite sides of the planet.

Siblings Tony Beckett, 69, and Mary Dunstan, 72, last saw each other in 1979 before Ms Dunstan moved to Adelaide, Australia.

The couple were emotionally reunited at Norwich train station on Tuesday afternoon after living apart for 45 years, April 16.

In photos of their first meeting in decades, Mr Beckett had tears in his eyes as he warmly embraced his sister in a hug.

Mr Beckett, from Cantley, Norfolk, said: ‘I didn’t know it had been that long. Now that the moment has arrived, I am extremely nervous.

In photos of their first meeting in decades, Mr Beckett had tears in his eyes as he warmly embraced his sister in a hug

‘We had a great childhood and we were very close.

‘Our father was a shepherd on the farm, Mary trained as a nurse in old Norfolk and Norwich, and I became a porter at St Andrews Hospital in Thorpe.’

Following the deaths of Ms Dunstan’s husband in 2021 and Mr Beckett’s wife in 2023, the siblings knew they had to be reunited quickly.

Mrs Dunstan ‘began to scrape together the pennies’ to make the 22-hour flight back to Britain and arrived two weeks ago.

She said: ‘We left because we thought we would have a better life for our children in Australia, and we made no mistake.

“All our kids have done well, there are no regrets.

‘But I really missed my family, especially Tony, because we were the closest in age to the siblings. We fought like cat and dog, but we were all very close.”

Tony also hadn’t seen his niece Sam since just after she was born.

The last time Mrs Dunstan visited their hometown was in October 1979, shortly after Sam’s birth.

The last time Mrs. Dunstan visited their hometown was in October 1979, shortly after the birth of her daughter, Sam Raven, who is now an adult and accompanied her on the return trip. From left to right: Sam, Tony and Mary

Mary Dunstan and her daughter, Sam Raven, pass through the barriers at Norwich train station

Mrs Dunstan had been caring for her husband, who suffered from dementia, for 10 years, but the strain prevented her from even thinking about an earlier reunion.

Mr Beckett said his mortgage and living expenses prevented him from making a trip to Australia.

Over the next week, the family will gather and relive memories.

A lot has changed since their childhood together on the farm – as the farm grounds themselves have now become part of the city’s northern distributor road.

Tony and Mary aren’t the only siblings reunited after decades.

In February, twin sisters Maurilia Chavez and Andrea Lopez met after 81 years apart after being orphaned, eventually finding each other through DNA testing.

And Diane Ward and Mary McLaughlin reunited for the first time in 55 years in June 2022, just months after discovering they were related.