MOST parents feel the joy of meeting their children at birth, but for a local man, that joy came 21 years later.
Tony Anderson only became aware he had another child after receiving a Facebook message one night.
"I looked at the message and thought 'who is this', so I went onto her profile and had a look," Tony said.
"I kind of recognised the face, she looks a lot like my other daughter, but the name was different, so I had to say 'Hi, who are you', and she explained herself.
"I ended up in a blubbering mess then!"
Tony's daughter, Adriana Rose from Manjimup in Western Australia, said she found out about her father, who she thought didn't want any contact, when her birth mother's best friend also sent her a Facebook message wanting to be friends.
"I asked her why, because my mum and I don't get along and she explained that she was family," Adriana said.
"I didn't understand so she explained that her daughter and I had the same father, and she told me he was Anthony Anderson, Tony for short.
"I froze, I was shocked, I didn't think I would ever find out and so it took me three days to come up with the courage to say 'Hi Tony', I just didn't know what to say."
Magic 105.9's Matt and Gracie saw Tony's original post on Facebook, which was a 'rave' about the ease of contacting people on social media these days resulting in him finding out about Adriana.
So the local radio duo decided to step in and help Tony connect with his new-found daughter.
Matt and Gracie arranged with sponsors to have Adriana flown to Adelaide to meet her dad for the first time.
"That was amazing, we didn't expect that one bit," Tony said.
"It was a big surprise," Adriana said.
Thanks to Matt and Gracie's work, Adriana arrived in South Australia on Monday, July 20, and was greeted at the Adelaide Airport by a group of new family members she never knew existed.
Both Tony and Adriana said was incredible to meet and instantly have the father-daughter connection.
"We were at the airport and I just wanted to hug her and not let go, yeah I had that instant bond, it was weird" Tony said.
"It was exciting," Adriana said.
