INLSA
Long-lost brothers Bert Panaino, 61, and Francisco, 63, embrace for the first time in 30 years after being reunited in Queensburgh, Durban, recently.
There were tears of joy and excitement when two brothers reunited after 30 years – both having lived thinking the other had died.
Francisco Panaino, 63, and Bert, 61, were reunited in Queensburgh, Durban, recently when Bert’s son came across a book that was written by his uncle.
Francisco, a retired flight crew member, who has published six books, said that in 2008 Bert’s son, Giovanni, had read his book Frankie and contacted him.
“He phoned me and asked if I knew where Bert Panaino was,” he said.
Francisco explained that Giovanni had lost contact with his father, so together they then embarked on a three-year search for him. He said he had last seen his brother in the late 1970s.
The two brothers were born in Sasolburg, in the Free State, but went to live in foster homes after their father died in the early 1950s.
“Our father had been the breadwinner in our family, so when he died our mother struggled financially,” said Francisco. “She also got sick and then we were sent to foster homes.”
At the time, Francisco was five and Bert was three.
The brothers were separated when Francisco went to study at Boys’ Town in Joburg, where he met his role model, the Bishop Reginald Orsmond.
While studying there, he lost contact with his brother and longed to see him.
“I thought about him all the time and wondered if he was being treated well or being protected because I always took care of him,” he said.
Sadly, just as Francisco left Boys’ Town to begin work as a flight crew member for SA Airways, his brother joined Boys’ Town and they did not see each other.
Experiences
Years went by “quickly” and the brothers got a break in 1978 when they reunited “by chance”.
“I was part of the flight crew for a trip to Germany and I looked at the passenger list and saw his name. I almost fainted,” said Francisco.
“It had been 10 years since I had last seen him.”
Bert had been going to Germany to learn how to make perfume and colognes. However, they lost contact again.
Francisco said he had retired in the early 2000s and started writing books about his life.
His first, Frankie, was about his early childhood experiences of being abused at the foster-care home and of protecting his brother.
He received phone calls from Childline to work with them after they read his book.
After searching for three years for Bert, his son and brother lost hope and assumed the worst.
In a desperate attempt to find him, Francisco asked for help from the Department of Home Affairs, and they found a Queensburgh address for a B Panaino.
He then contacted Malvern police for assistance.
“The police confirmed that it was Bert and they gave me a telephone number, which I was nervous to call for a few days.”
After phoning the number, Francisco and Bert agreed to meet last week.
Bert said he had been excited when he received the call from his brother.
“I thought he was dead because I was unsuccessful in my attempts to find him,” he said. “But when I received the call, we kept phoning each other while he was on the way to meet me. He is still skinny.
“Not a day went by where I did not think about him.”
The two retired brothers said they had a lot of catching up to do. They have vowed to never lose contact again.
