Heartbreaking: Man Who Met His Brother He Never Knew Existed for 50 Years Suddenly Dies 2 Weeks After (Photos)

A man who was reunited with his long-lost brother after nearly 50 years living a mile apart has tragically died just weeks later.

Steve Belshaw, 54, was given up for adoption and never knew his half-brother Rob Hall existed until they were brought together by ITV show Long Lost Family.

Less than a fortnight after the heart-wrenching show was broadcast, Steve died suddenly of an unknown cause.

Rob’s partner Kelly told The Mirror Online: “I don’t know what to say other than we’re devastated and he’s been taken from us far too soon.”

One of Steve’s former colleagues, Tim Hall, said he heard the heartbreaking news from a close friend.

He said on Facebook Steve died last Friday and that the cause was “unknown”, adding: “He was on ITV the other week on Long Lost Families.”

Another pal, Kevin Long, posted a link to Steve’s Facebook profile, which has been changed to Remembering Steve Belshaw.

He wrote: “RIP Steve, so sorry to hear this news.”

Rob’s face lit up when he spotted Steve walking towards him at the meeting

Steve, from Blackpool, believed he had no living relatives after his birth mother Frances Unsworth died in 2004.

She was just 17 when she placed a newspaper ad appealing for a new home for her son after his dad was killed in a motorbike accident.

She handed him to a couple who she thought would be good parents.

Steve never met Frances and had never even seen a photograph of her until he was surprised by the ITV show hosted by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell.

Viewers were left in floods of tears earlier this month as Davina showed Steve a picture of his mother for the first time.

And she stunned him again by adding: “Do you know where we got it? You have a half-brother called Rob.”

Steve broke down in tears as he embraced Rob, 49, who lived less than a mile away from him for most of their lives.

The brothers instantly hugged after meeting each other for the first time

Rob, also in tears, told him: “I must have passed you in the street.”

After the emotional first meeting Steve said: “To have a little brother… I never saw this in my wildest dreams.

“Meeting Rob has allowed me to feel closer to my birth mother. He has got so many memories to share.

“All that will help to build a much clearer picture of the kind of person she was.”

Steve was told Frances, who worked in a sweet factory, often spoke to his younger brother about him.

He said it made him “enormously happy” to know he was not forgotten.

Rob said he thought the adoption ad was “heartbreaking” and added: “I hope we will be friends as well as brothers. I think we will be”.

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