LINDA Parry brushes away tears of joy and says: "It is like winning the lottery."

That is how the Gwent mother has described being reunited with her daughter after an absence of more than 23 years.

Thanks to an appeal in last Saturday's Argus, Lucy MacNamara was back in the arms of her mother, Linda, of Tranch, Pontypool.

The pair had lost touch when a ten-year-old Lucy moved to Australia with her father.

After suffering tragedy when her fianc, Andrew, died after being mugged and shot in Australia last year, make-up artist Lucy decided to move to London to be near her father, who had since come back to Britain, and in a bid to trace her mother.

"I had tried various things such as the Trisha Show to find my mother, so the Argus was basically my last resort," said 33-year-old Ms MacNamara.

"I was on Portobello Road in the market on Saturday when I got a call from my aunt, Tracey Sullivan, who had seen the article.

"At first I thought it was somebody from the Argus to say they had got no response, but she started crying and said it was her.

"She told me that my mother was in a state but she would call me an hour later. I just let out a big scream and everybody in the market was looking at me like I was crazy!"

Ms Parry, 51, of Avalon Court, who has appealed through a national magazine to find her daughter, said: "It took me about an hour to pull myself together after seeing the piece in the paper. It was like winning the lottery - I just couldn't have wished for anything better."

After composing herself, Ms Parry spoke to her daughter for the first time in more than two decades.

"The first thing she said was 'Hello', and I said back, 'Mum?' for the first time in 23 years, and it sounded strange and unfamiliar.

"Mum was crying and I was choked up, too."

It was only during a long and tearful conversation that Lucy found out she had a half-brother, 16-year-old Cwmcarn Foundation School pupil Ben Parry, who plays hooker for the Gwent Dragons under-18s and has won a Wales rugby league cap at under-16 level.

After meeting up in London over the weekend, Lucy came to Wales on Monday to visit her new- found family. Ms MacNamara said: "It was so nice to see Ben. I was an only child up until last weekend, so I still can't believe he is my brother.

"I had always wanted a brother or sister and now I've got an instant one! I'm very proud of him and I will get prouder as soon as I get to know him better."

Ben said: "It has been absolutely brilliant. I didn't think I was ever going to meet her.

"Me and Mam were having a chat and had decided to go to Australia next year to try and find her."

Ms Parry said: "I'm a fortune card reader but I didn't see this in the cards.

"It did say that things were going to change for me and I was going to be very happy, but I didn't expect this.

"We have been talking non-stop since she has been here and we are trying to cram 23 years into 24 hours. It is just like a dream and we are all completely ecstatic.

"I feel whole again and it is fabulous.

"We would really like to thank the Argus for bringing us back together."