Man abandoned as a baby in Gatwick Airport ladies' toilets searches for mother 30 years on
'To me it's just a blank space that everyone else seems to have'
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Your support makes all the difference.A man abandoned on a toilet floor in Gatwick Airport 30 years ago has issued an appeal for his birth parents to come forward.
Steve Hydes was dressed in two baby grows and wrapped in a blanket when he was discovered by a member of staff as 10-day-old infant in a ladies' toilet.
Appearing clean and well looked-after, the press dubbed him "Gary Gatwick" after the airport's mascot teddy and he has spent a number of years publicly requesting that his genetic family make themselves known.
Yet despite the mass media coverage, not a single relative or lead that might solve the mystery of his background has got in touch.
Mr Hydes, who has a partner and daughter, said the complete lack of knowledge about anything to do with his life prior to 2.45pm on 10 April 1986 had left a gap in his identity.
"It's the not knowing...why it happened and things like that I really want to know. To me it's just a blank space that everyone else seems to have," he told Sky News.
"I'd just like to know what happened, it will explain more about myself, complete me in a way."
Mr Hydes has said he had a very happy childhood with his adoptive parents Sandra and John and three sisters.
Yet since having his daughter, Alanna, with his partner, the 30-year-old said his search for her paternal grandparents had felt more urgent.
A few years ago he met those members of staff - the duty-free worker who found him, police officers and a social worker - who cared for him as they tried to trace his family, according to The Guardian.
Mr Hydes also contacted the police to see the files on his case but was told they had been destroyed - a cause of frustration for him now.
DNA testing, meanwhile has shown his forebears were probably of English or Scottish descent. But two genetic matches found through a family tree website cannot currently be contacted because they have not logged back into their accounts.
Mr Hydes said he had no ill feeling towards his biological parents and did not want to "destroy" the lives they have now.
"I don't want them to fell afraid to come forward, I'm not an angry, person, I'm not in it for that," he said.
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