Little boy lost in market embarks on journey to find family | 60 Minutes Australia

well to start at the end this story proves the power of love can overcome truly impossible odds but the beginning of it is just plain heartbreaking a five year old boy gets hopelessly lost from his mother in a bustling city market in the Philippines he can't find her so eventually he's taken to an orphanage and he's lucky he's adopted by a caring Australian family he goes on to lead a happy and successful life here except something is always missing six months ago thirty years after getting lost joel de cartier couldn't ignore the pain any longer he had to find his birth mother but in a country of 100 million where would he even start to look [Music] I did do missing boy 35 year-old Joel de Carter a is looking for himself missing missing boy 1985 he was out five years old in this hot crowded Filipino marketplace missing boy he is searching for answers have you seen him he needs to find clues about a little boy lost here in 1985 hoping it might lead him to his mother a woman whose face he can't remember whose name he doesn't know do you know anyone who's been around here for a long time Joel's incredible tale begins right here in the poor outskirts of Manila in the Philippines I guess my earliest memories was of my mother being a dressmaker I would just remember this presence and this love that sort of came out of my mom it was one small moment that changed the course of his life back in 1985 five year-old Joel woke up in his home near the market to find his single mother already gone she'd left for work in a sewing factory early that morning leaving him in the care of her flatmate she didn't want to wake me so she just went it off to work and left me at home and it wasn't like she left me at home by myself like I was in a house of life you know it was like five occupants and I remember waking up and you know she wasn't there and you know the first child's instinct is to look for their their mother the five-year-old joel set out on the unforgiving back streets hoping to find his mom eventually he reached the covered sprawling food market when you're inside it's easy to see how a small boy could get lost in this chaotic crowded maze how long do you think you were wandering around here all day I reckon that would have been wandering around all days trying to find my parents it would have been a bit of a horror movie to your eyes yeah like with all the knives and the pigs heads and I would've been panicking when Joel wandered in here looking for his mum imagine how frightening and daunting it must have been as a tiny five-year-old his view of this world would have looked a lot more like this a jumbled frenzy of hustle and bustle and lots of legs attached to some very strange faces miraculously though one man recognized that this little boy was genuinely lost and rescued him from this crowded marketplace Jose men sello a kind taxi driver saved Joel was so lucky I'm so lucky that a decent man saw that this boy was lost you had a choice whether to take advantage will do the right thing if it wasn't for him chances are I could have ended up who knows where I would have been enough Joel was dropped off at a shelter for children an orphanage they searched everywhere for his mother with no luck he was assigned a social worker who appeared in court on his behalf to make the young Filipino foundling available for international adoption this lonely place became the only home a young Joel remembers it was 18 months 18 months I lived in the orphanage must have seemed like a lifetime at that age yeah being there for so long it's just that's you think that that's that's your life now it's just sitting and waiting and just just wondering if they're gonna come and pick me up eventually a young Joel realized his mum wasn't going to come but then just like that his life story changed when you look back at that photo is quite angelic isn't it Oh Annie Spain angelic all his life a young Melbourne couple arrived desperate to adopt the tiny boy they'd only seen in photographs he was a dear little boy he looked beautiful and he had a lovely little nature so by the end of the first day you thought that city's a keeper oh definitely most definitely it's if you can imagine like you know these people look different they smell different they sounded different but there was no hesitation when I when my mother kara said you know would you like to leave these were these these people in Australia I was like yet I do you know get me out of here Julie DiCaro ray is Joel's adoptive mum she couldn't wait to bring him home I'll never forget it we got onto the Qantas aircraft and Joel was just a little kid with the young Filipino adoptee settled quickly into life in suburban Melbourne he just slotted in beautifully he was determined that he was going to speak English he learned English from watching Tony barbers sale of the century every single night every night he would repeat the words that were said on that on that show every night and Charlie barber was his hero for a long John's adoptive parents separated soon after he arrived back in Australia but Australian life with Julie still treated Joel well he graduated school looking for Lupino but every bit the Aussie teenager interested in filmmaking and hip hop when I dance it's for me about telling a story about and in 2008 he was a finalist on hit reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance but Joel always hoped his Filipino mum might still be alive when I think about the years and the pain and the separation loss and the grief that she has she's gone through you know it's like there is a bit of that like aw man like it's kind of like guilty to have had that blessed life you know so last year 30 years after he was lost he decided to begin the daunting search for his biological mum this is so hard like where do I start and I told myself like I just have to get there when I get there I would figure it out but in a country of 100 million people and without so much as his mother's first name or any indication of whether she was still alive to his Aussie family the task seemed utterly impossible indeed a road to heartbreaker I was worried about how he would be able to move on when he didn't find his mother in my mind it wasn't if he didn't find her it was when because there was no name there was no birthdate there was no region there was nothing to go on I have always in my heart just thought that it was just a brick wall that he would strike still Joel was determined late last year he returned to the Philippines and Munoz Market trying to find some thread any clue about who his mother might have been good afternoon out there the missing boy and then after a month of tireless searching finally unli stallholders remembered a young boy named Dante who had gone missing from the same market in the 1980s Dante he had very similar characteristics as me very quickly the workers at Muniz market located Dante's parents named Vicky and Danny [Music] and Vicky needed no convincing that Joel was her missing son Dante I actually started showing her other photos of me in the orphanage and other younger photos she she broke down crying ins and she was looking at the photos and pointing going that's Dante lence Dante [Music] coming up was a big wake-up call for both Vicki ni Jones joy turns to heartbreak and he wanted to believe I would definitely wanted to believe and how this TV star came to the rescue the question was hanging we had to find the answer that's next of 60 minutes it's December last year and Joel de Carter a thinks he's been reunited with his mum Vicki and Danny play siente are certain that Joel was their long-lost son Dante a boy who had gone missing in Munoz market in the 1980s and was never found they welcomed him back with open arms sure that Joel was their missing child it's emotionally pretty convincing as yeah and I gave her the choice think would you like to do a DNA test and she said yes but Jol's joy was short-lived [Music] the DNA test showed Vicky and Danny were not Joel's biological parents he wasn't their long-lost Dante their missing son when the DNA test came back negative yeah massive disappointment yeah absolutely so for for both Vicky and I was a big wake-up call - like what you feel and what you know are totally different she had the same nose as me and you wanted to believe I would definitely wanted to believe this for sure but John's crushing disappointment didn't last it was replaced with a fierce determination if he was going to find his biological mother he needed to get his message to as many people as possible Jessica Soho is the Philippines answer to Oprah a much-loved broadcaster and journalist she's been beamed into the living rooms of Filipinos for over 30 years it's unimaginable for me for a mom to have lost her son that long 31 years I mean how many Health's our lifetimes did she have to go through not knowing where her kid is Jessica took up Joel's cause telling his story to her TV audience of tens of millions when we did Joe's story didn't get to his biological parents it was like the question was hanging and we felt like we had to find the answer we could not leave it hanging you wanted resolution we had to see this through the TV anchor along with some of the Philippines most famous radio DJs begged the public for assistance and hope and pray she someone who no sir is listening incredibly someone sent in an old family photo right in the middle was a young boy lost in Manila near that same market in 1985 when we gave that photo a second look a really good look there's this little boy in this photo that could be nobody else other than Joel Herminia Rio the young mother in the old photograph was located still living close by to Muniz market she agreed to meet Joel after have gone through the experience with Vicki and Danny I didn't want to put myself myself on the line again you know I didn't want to have these hopes and and be and be sort of shattered again this is the actual moment they met at first they're both hesitant and awkward then just emotional she just started sobbing and hugged me probably after that like five or ten minutes I started to start to feel it and I was like are these Ashley's this is my mom you know this is this is this is who I've been looking for for two-and-a-half months this time the DNA test confirmed what Joel already thought he'd finally found his mum while I was asking I was are you okay you know like it was like it was me going sorry mum for walking off I found my way home I'm sorry for putting you through all this you know sorry for coming home 20 odd years late yeah yeah did she tell you off for that I'm sure she will but after just 24 hours with his biological mother trying to catch up on 30 last year's his time in the Philippines was up he had to return to Australia I was trying not to sort of you know think too far ahead but I was like how cool would it be if my two mothers were to me that would be just amazing coming up Joel's Ozzie mum's unexpected dance it's mixed emotions am i doing the right thing by showing her how happy we're thing as she meets the mother left behind that's next on 60 minutes Joel de Carter I couldn't wait to tell his Aussie mum all about meeting his biological mum iminium but for Julie it's complicated it brings emotions she didn't expect I'm lucky to have him but I'm really sorry that she's she hasn't been a part of his life I can't imagine how a person just gets out of bed after going through something like that so I'm I'm sorry that she hasn't been he had thought that Joel hasn't been part of her life as he has been part of mine so Joel decides there needs to be another family reunion this is first year in school this trip he's preparing to take his Ozzie mother to meet his Filipino mom and you buy a new bike on on his first Christmas in Australia I've been putting together a little photograph album for Herminia of Joel's life through through the years gorgeous absolutely gorgeous well he's still gone still gorgeous and I'm giving my happy memories to a woman who who should have had happy times with with Joel so it's mixed emotions am i doing the right thing by showing her how how happy we've been I often think that my happiness has been at the expense of another woman losing her child and that's really hard to to process [Music] today in Manila is a day that both women believed would never arrive I'm going through every emotion it's Lam excited but I am nervous it's a big thing it's a it's a very big thing I'm meeting Joel's mother his biological mother with every step the lost years melt away finally two mums embrace bonded by the love of their son who took the long way home I always knew that there was another woman out there who loved him never for a minute thinking that I would meet her so wonderful what was that wonderful to see joel with his mother with my own two eyes is he's wonderful just wonderful and she's beautiful look like more like my mother na witch mother for Armenia pure joy after thirty years of pain how many of what do you think about finally meeting Julie and for Julie pure relief I've always known that Joel needed this to make his life complete and I've always been there wishing and hoping it could happen and I wanted her to like me that makes that silly I really wanted her to like me I mean after all I I did the job that she would have wanted loved to have done so I really wanted her to meet me I wanted to meet her and we do like each other so he could tell that [Applause] [Music] Herminia takes us all to her new house incredibly just a few kilometers away from Joel's manila orphanage jessica Soho's much loved TV show means that joel is a household name in these parts of the philippines and the entire neighborhood has turned out to watch his triumphant homecoming to the castle with rock star wasn't it it was really I felt like the Queen shaking hands it was wonderful their happiness for Herminia was just showed all over them it was it was wonderful wonderful it was amazing joël meets his extended family and julie finally has a chance to walk armenia through the last year's celebrating his 21st birthday d mom as you know i was found on the street at winners market trying to make amends for the actions of his five-year-old self joel has written a heartfelt letter to her many i really want you to know that I'm sorry I got lost I'm sorry I lost my way I'm sorry for not waiting for you to return that day but most of all I'm sorry for causing you all those years of worry and grief I can't even begin to imagine how tough it would have been for you there are a lot of missing people all over the world but I also know that there are lots of good hearts it's a wonderful story to tell a depth of a mother's heart [Music] that was so hard so there was so many times I wanted to give up and go home and just say you know at least I tried you know that's not in your nature job yeah he told me that the part of this journey was about finding out who I am it's almost like finding my how is finding finding me you know finding that little boy that that got lost but after all that you finally got to see your two mums I mean our was that everything you wish for yeah it definitely was the the ultimate gift [Music] hello I'm Liam bartlett thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 3,788,169

Rating: 4.8458338 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Karl Stefanovic, Ray Martin, Peter Stefanovic, Mike Munro, Sarah Abo, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Dev Patel, Lion, Survival, searching, lost, lost parents, lost child, orphanages, orphanage, adopted, Philippines, Filipino, Manila, finding, market, marketplace, separated, australia, sydney, Melbourne, Joel De Carteret, family, tracking, DNA, genes

Id: mL1EWOtql5M

Length: 24min 27sec (1467 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 17 2020