Mom mourned her missing son for 12 years — then one day, she received an unexpected phone call

Glasgow resident Joyce Curtis had accepted that her son Nicholas might have passed away after disappearing back in 2010 but fate had a surprise in store for her. According to The Herald, Joyce miraculously received a phone call on December 19th which informed her that her son was actually alive and had been admitted to a hospital in southwest France. The mother “went into shock” after she received the call since she had spent the past few years grieving for her son, Nicholas, whom she believed to be dead.

“I can’t believe it. I thought with Covid and everything that has gone on, I thought he was dead. I grieved for him. When I got the call to say he was alive I just went into shock. All I did was cry all day. Then of course I phoned my mother and I phoned my brother and I phoned my daughter to tell them,” she told the outlet.

She even spoke to her son on the phone and now she just wishes for his safe return as soon as possible. Joyce has been going through a tough time in her life after losing her husband earlier this year but she has a reason to celebrate in the festive season because she will soon be reuniting with her son.

“This has just made Christmas for me, especially since my husband died back in June. My God. It’s like a miracle. Do you know what I mean? I’d resigned myself to the fact that he had died. I really thought that. I think everybody thought the same,” she said.

According to Joyce Curtis’ account, Nicholas is a joiner by trade and had left for Glasgow in the mid-2000s after losing his job. Correspondence from Nicholas has confirmed that he had been living in rough conditions on the streets of Paris and he had hitchhiked across Spain and France.

In 2009, Mrs. Curtis finally lodged a missing report in Glasgow after she lost contact with him. She and her husband had last seen and heard from Nicholas when he was admitted to a hospital in France and the couple flew over to visit him. “I got a letter in 2010 to say that Nicholas was in a hospital in France. He’d been missing for a while by then. I’d already reported him missing here in Glasgow the previous year after not hearing from him for ages and ages,” Joyce recalled.

She added that she and her husband "went over to visit him and it was that good to see him. We were getting him home, but for some reason, I don’t know why, he just disappeared again.”So she presumed that her son might have passed away in some unfortunate circumstances as she had not heard from him for several years. But the British Consulate in Paris gave her a shocking call on Monday to inform them that their son is indeed alive and is in a French hospital for the second time.

“I’m not building my hopes up yet until I get him home. Though I might even get over to France with my daughter before then so I can see him,” she revealed to the outlet.

According to the Independent, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said that  “they are supporting a British man in France and are providing assistance to his family.” "We are in contact with the local authorities," the spokesperson said.