'It's a miracle Dad was found 30 years on'

"I couldn't believe it when he replied 20 minutes later saying: ‘yes, I know your father.’”

This was the moment Mika Ap Ellis’ long search for her dad, who she hadn’t seen for 30 years, was nearly over.

Ms Ap Ellis had spent years searching for her father, Omar, whom she had last seen as a child.

She said: “I've never really had a relationship with him. However, I did have letters from him. I had birthday cards from him and I had loads of photos, so I knew that there was a connection.”

She said it wasn’t until her 18th birthday and into her early twenties that she gave serious thought about searching for her dad.

The only lead she had from those who knew Omar was that he was likely homeless and sleeping rough on the streets.

Ms Ap Ellis said her first attempts at finding her dad was through charities and council agencies that support homeless people but their help was limited due to data protection rules.

“I kept hitting brick walls as I went along,” she said.

It was while watching a news segment on BBC London in November two years ago that she got a fresh lead.

It covered the work of Verral Paul-Walcott, from Tottenham, who runs a cycling group distributing food and other supplies to people sleeping on London’s streets.

Ms Ap Ellis said she took the chance and messaged him on social media to ask if he knew where her dad had been sleeping.

Mr Paul-Walcott replied within minutes to say he did know where Omar was.

“It was absolutely amazing, I just couldn't believe it”, Ms Ap Ellis said. “From that, it took me a long time to get my head around it and try to understand what I wanted from meeting my father.”

“It’s one thing knowing where they are after 30 years - you just don’t know how it’s going to be,” she added.

The moment Mr Paul-Walcott received the message from Ms Ap Ellis, he said he went straight to the spot where he knew Omar slept.

"I approached him and like normal I asked him if he needed some support, and he told me the essentials that he needed,” he said.

“I got them for him and when I came back, I said to him: 'I have some news for you. There's someone called Mika who would like to see you.' He looked up at me, and his eyes filled up and he said: 'That's my daughter.’”

Omar recorded a voice message on Mr Paul-Walcott’s phone to play to his daughter so she could hear her father's voice for the first time in three decades.

From there Mr Paul-Walcott kept in touch with Omar and ultimately supported the long lost father and daughter finally meeting up in person.

"My dad knew now that I was coming down. He'd spoken to Verral and he was going to be in his usual spot outside Five Guys,” Ms Ap Ellis said.

“In my head I'm still thinking I don't think he's going to be there. It's been thirty years so I wasn't really expecting much.

“I was so nervous when I eventually went over to him, and said ‘are you Omar?’ and he said yes.

“I hugged him and it was a really surreal moment, but it didn't feel like a stranger, it did feel like home in a weird sort of way. For the rest of the day we went up to the park and we just chatted for hours and hours and hours just about all sorts".

She described finding her father this way as a “miracle”.

"If anybody is looking for anybody in London especially if they're homeless, I give Verral an hour and he'll find them,” Ms Ap Ellis said.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]