'I’m your sister': Chance encounter in nightclub led to amazing family reunion

A CORK brother and sister who were adopted separately have developed a strong relationship since a chance encounter led to their first meeting.

Well known Cork film director Jerry O’Mullane, who hails from Ballinlough and lives in Blackpool, said that despite not growing up with his sister - Valerie Russell - the siblings are now best friends. He described the experience of meeting her as life changing. Now, the siblings are determined to find the missing link as Jerry attempts to track down their father in Cairo.

The Cork man revealed he had received letters from his family years before a quirk of fate led to him meeting Valerie. He had declined several invitations due to fear of a negative outcome. Fortunately, Jerry said the reality was quite different. He describes meeting his sister for the first time as an incredible experience.

“We were both adopted from the Sacred Heart Convent,” he said. “I’m a year older than Val but we always say I’m like the younger sibling.

“I had received letters from my sister before meeting her but I always declined. There were a few reasons for this, but it was mainly because I wasn’t in a good place at the time.

“I was also very protective of my adopted parents. I had convinced myself that no good would come out of meeting my biological family.”

He described how the encounter played out.

“I was in a nightclub in Cork when I spotted this person who I thought might be Spanish. I joke that she looked like me in drag at 17. It stopped me in my tracks and something told me to go talk to her. At the time I was getting ready to go to Spain to live and learn the language.”

Jerry approached the mystery woman.

“I asked her if she was Spanish and she said ‘nah boy, but you look foreign’. That was when I told her that I was half Egyptian.”

The pair were both struck by their resemblance to each other.

“She started asking me questions. Where is your mum from? What is your father’s name? The tension continued to rise between each question.“

Jerry will never forget that eureka moment.

“We looked at each other and both realised. She just stared at me and said “I’m your sister.”

The siblings went back to Val’s house to catch up on lost time.

“We stayed up all night and talked about everything that had happened through our entire lives. It was a phenomenal thing. 

"When I told my colleagues the next day they said ‘to hell with work, tell me the story about how you met your sister again’.”

The siblings are just this close to this day.

“We go on holiday together and have an intense bond that a lot of siblings aren’t lucky enough to experience.”

It wasn’t long before Jerry mustered up the courage to meet his mum too.

“She squeezed the life out of me,” he laughed while recalling their first meeting. When I saw my mum she just looked at me like the biggest present she had ever been given.”

The Cork man expressed hopes of one day meeting his dad.

“Val got to meet our dad but they lost touch over time. I never did and she would love for the three of us to one day meet. All we have to go on at the moment is a name and the address of where he once lived in Cairo. I have tried every avenue. I even asked my Egyptian hairdresser if they could help.”

Jerry and Val have enjoyed many adventures together since meeting and even worked together on Jerry’s latest feature film Bond Delusion.

“In some ways we are alike and in other ways we are like yin and yang. I turn to her for advice as if she is the older sister.”