EXCLUSIVEWoman, 55, whose 'real life Paddington Bear' story saw her abandoned at six weeks old at Euston station tells Long Lost Family 'you're never the same after knowing your birth mother left you'
- WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
- READ MORE: Grandmother, 74, breaks down in tears as Long Lost Family team track down the son she was forced to give up when she was 16 - after his own search led him to believe his biological mother was dead
A woman has revealed how she was left as a baby at Euston station - and was 'never the same' after discovering her birth mother had abandoned her.
Rachel McArthur, 55, from Nottingham, made headlines in June 1969 when she was found in a battered carrycot in a car park at Euston station in London.
She was at least six weeks old and in poor health, with ulcerated nappy rash and a chest infection. But after being found by staff, she was soon given the name Rachel, adopted by Phyllis and Donald McArthur, and enjoyed a 'wonderful' childhood.
Featuring in tomorrow's episode of ITV's Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace, Rachel recalls how her adoptive mother used her love of Paddington Bear to reveal her start in life.
'When I was seven, my mum got me into Paddington Bear. I had a Paddington bin, Paddington bedspread, Paddington everything. and one day, she said, 'do you know the story about Paddington? How he was left at a station?' and she said, 'you were just like Paddington. You were left at a station.''
Rachel McArthur (pictured), 55, from Nottingham, made headlines in June 1969 when she was found in a battered carrycot in a car park at Euston station in London
Despite her happy childhood, Rachel struggled with the revelation, saying: 'I had a wonderful family, I always felt loved... it's just once you know, that your birth mother's left you, you're never the same.'
Miraculously a car park attendant found Rachel as a baby, after the long stay underground car park at Euston station had shut for the weekend.
Rachel's mother Phyllis, who adopted her as a baby, thanks God her little one survived.
She tells the programme: 'I believe that it was God who prompted the car park attendant to go at that time and sweep around, because had she been left until Monday morning, she wouldn't have survived.'
Rachel and her adoptive mother are filmed looking over their family photographs, including two that were taken of Rachel whilst she was in a nursery before being adopted.
'You were known as the Euston baby because of all the publicity that there was about it,' explains Phyllis. 'Gosh, wow,' replies a gobsmacked Rachel.
She was at least six weeks old and in poor health, with ulcerated nappy rash and a chest infection. Pictured, Rachel as a baby
But after being found by staff, she was soon given the name Rachel, adopted by Phyllis (pictured right) and Donald McArthur, and enjoyed a 'wonderful' childhood
Featuring in tomorrow's episode of ITV 's Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace, Rachel recalls how her adoptive mother used her love of Paddington Bear to reveal her start in life
Despite her happy childhood (pictured), Rachel struggled with the revelation, saying: 'I had a wonderful family, I always felt loved... it's just once you know, that your birth mother's left you, you're never the same.'
Rachel's mother Phyllis (pictured), who adopted her as a baby, thanks God her little one survived
During the programme Rachel is overcome when she sees a photo of herself in an article from the time: 'To leave something so vulnerable in a car park, how could you do that? I'd rather die than give my child up.
'There's lots of thoughts in the past, probably 40 odd years, that I've thought about her. Some are good, some aren't… I hope I meet her, make it right,' admits mother-of-one Rachel, about her birth mother.
'I really, really need to know: why?' She must wonder about me. She must. The pain and the joy of delivering a child, that's not something you ever forget. You never forget.'
Rachel was right - her birth mother never forgot and the extraordinary research by the team that crosses all the way to Canada and Australia, brings Rachel answers including the heart-breaking circumstances in which she was born.
Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace is on Monday - Wednesday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
