Sponsored by
Tragedy gives father and son new chance
AN estranged father and son – brought together by tragedy – are attempting to make up for lost years.
John Prestwich searched for his sons Jordon and Brandon for eight years only to find his eldest boy had recently drowned.
As reported in yesterday's Gazette, the heartbroken Blackpool dad only discovered Jordon had died from a television news report of his son's inquest – four months after his death.
The 10-year-old drowned in a pond in Wigan trying to save his step-sister Bethany.
The tragedy dominated the national news amid claims two police community support officers did not jump in after Brandon because they were not trained to.
Credit
Now Mr Prestwich, 32, of St Heliers Road, South Shore, is trying to rebuild a relationship with Brandon, now 10, with whom he lost touch in 1999.
He explained: "We're taking it slowly, but it's so great to see him after all these years. It must be hard for Brandon, but I'm trying to be a friend and take him out to the park so we can get to know each other.
"I want Brandon to know I never stopped looking for him and Jordon. He's a lovely boy, just like his brother, and a real credit to their mum."
After separating from Jordon and Brandon's mother, Tracy Ganderton, Mr Prestwich joined the Army.
His ex-wife and sons moved away from Blackpool to Wigan.
When stationed in Portsmouth, Mr Prestwich had access to the boys at weekends but lost touch around Easter 1999.
The father added: "Last time I saw the boys we had a meal and I gave them a sand pit I'd bought. I didn't know it would be the last time I'd see Jordon. Next time I went up to Wigan they had moved and gave no forwarding address."
His desperate search for the family left him trawling the streets of Wigan on the weekends, asking groups of children on the park and customers in pubs, but he was always one step behind their latest move.
The Child Support Agency refused to pass on information because of the Data Protection Act.
His former partner remarried twice, making it almost impossible to find her even using the electoral register and a private investigator, while her relatives in Blackpool also moved.
He added: "I didn't have money for solicitors and didn't really know where to go. But if I thought anything like this would happen I would have looked harder.
"I felt like I'd been on a wild goose chase for so many years. Then I heard about Jordon and thought it was too late, but it's not too late for me and Brandon."
Mr Prestwich contacted Mrs Ganderton through a memorial website to Jordon.
He said: "If my story can encourage just one father out there to keep looking or for one mum to get back in touch before it's too late, then I feel I will have honoured my son."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Blackpool
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
