Emotional family reunion for Buxton quarry worker abandoned in a pram as a baby

John Hacking, who is a quarry worker, appeared on the hit ITV show on Monday night where he went back to Eagle Parade in Buxton where he was left in a pram in the rain on the door step of his neighbours.

The 57-year-old, who was brought up by the people who found him outside their flat, has spent decades searching for his biological mother after finding out he was adopted at 13.

Speaking on the show to host Nicky Campbell John said: “It’s a weight off my shoulders, all these years of trying to find my mother and it’s finally happened.

“I feel my life is complete now. A lot of people think I am a lot calmer, more relaxed and more happy now too. Dreams do come true.”

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John contacted the show and only knew a few details about his birth mother like her name, Maureen Clifford and that she had disappeared without a trace.

John, who grew up in Buxton and then moved to rural Derbyshire, spent decades trying to track down his real mother with the help of phone books and libraries.

Now called Maureen Jobson and living in Kent the 77-year-old said she never had any other children as a punishment for giving up John.

She said she never abandoned him and had already made the neighbours his godparents but could not knock on the door to say goodbye as it was too emotional.

After the show tracked her down the pair met in a pub and Maureen gave John big hug and said: “I’ve never forgotten you, darling, never. I didn’t want to hand you over, but it was a matter of having to.

"I’ve got a son. That’s the most important thing in my life. I’ve got everything to live for now.”

The show was filmed in November 2020 and since then Maureen and John now speak on the phone most days, have visited each other several times and have even planned holidays.

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