It was a tearful meeting Teresa Kinsey feared she would not live to see.

After months of frustrating detective work, Mrs Kinsey failed to track down her long-lost son.

And she knew time was not on her side.

The mother-of-eight had been told by doctors she was dying of cancer and was desperate to see David Costello, the son she lost touch with almost three years ago.

Fearing she would die without ever speaking to him again, she dug out his last known address in Shipley and an old telephone number.

But the information drew a blank and Mrs Kinsey, of St Helens, Merseyside, turned to the Telegraph & Argus for help.

Her despair turned to relief and tears of joy when within hours of the story appearing in the T&A David, 37, of Coronation Way, Braithwaite, Keighley, picked up the phone to make his first emotional call to his mum in years.

And now the pair have finally met up after David travelled to Mrs Kinsey's home - and embraced.

"It was lovely," said Mrs Kinsey. "He came down on Friday and we haven't stopped talking ever since.

"We talked about the grandchildren and how they are going on. David told me about his new job and what he has been up to.

"We certainly had a lot of catching up to do."

However Mrs Kinsey also had the sad task of telling her son about the lung cancer which was diagnosed by doctors in September last year. At the time they told her she had just nine months to live, despite going through gruelling chemotherapy.

"I told David all about my treatment," she said. "We were both quite emotional. But I am feeling fine at the moment and he was a big help while he was here."

Now the pair have pledged not to lose touch again and David, a labourer at Wells Spiral Tubes in Keighley, intends to visit his sick mother again this weekend.

Mrs Kinsey is hoping to meet her grandchildren David, seven, Claire, five and two-year-old Thomas, the grandson she has never seen.

"I am over the moon," she said. "I can't thank the Telegraph & Argus enough for bringing us together again."

David was just as delighted with the meeting and pledged to make his mother's remaining time as happy as possible.

"I am going to make sure I spend as much time as possible with her from now on," he said.

"Every day is a bonus for her."