Gabriel Nagy, now 69, suffered amnesia after a car crash while driving home from work in Newcastle, Australia, in January 1987. 

His wife Pam, daughter Jennifer, then nine, and son Stephen, 11, were devastated after finding the burned-out wreckage of his car - but no sign of him.

Emotional: Gabriel Nagy, now 69, smiles with daughter Jennifer, now 34, some 23 years after he lost his memory and disappeared

Two weeks before an inquest into his disappearance was due to record Mr Nagey as being dead, a quick-thinking policewoman discovered his medial records.

Mr Nagy has now made an emotional reunion with his family. 

'I'd been living under a pseudonym for a long time but I'd been having flashes of my proper name; things were slowly returning,' Mr Nagy told the Courier Mail.

Mr Nagey had been a doting father and husband before the accident. His last movements recorded him buying camping equipment at a store in Newcastle, New South Wales.

It is believed that he used the items to live out in the wilderness.

He spent the next few years sleeping rough and drinking. He went through a succession of jobs on fishing boats, farms and building sites.

Mr Nagey says his only memory was of bleeding profusely from a wound on the back of his head, which still bears a scar.

But he was given a life-line after Pastor Barry Hayhoe from the River of Life church offered him a job as a caretaker and a room.

His life continued with no memories of the tragedy. With no sign of their relative, his family had all but given up on ever hearing from him again.

But Senior Constable Georgia Robinson, who was involved in the inquest, scanned medicare records and discovered somebody with the same name.

She tracked Mr Nagey down and asked him a series of questions. Slowly, the memories of his earlier life began to return and his family were informed that he was still alive.

How it used to be: Mr Nagey looks every part the happy family man with wife Pam, daughter Jennifer, aged nine, and son Stephen, 11, before the accident which caused his memory loss

How it used to be: Mr Nagey looks every part the happy family man with wife Pam, daughter Jennifer, aged nine, and son Stephen, 11, before the accident which caused his memory loss

'It was like a cartoon where flashbulbs go off on top of people's heads,' Mr Nagey said. 'She gave me a letter from Jennifer, a letter from Pam and letters from my Dad and stepmum.'

Mr Nagey said he posted 'the longest letter of his life' to his family.

Three days later his daughter sent him a text message which read: 'Hi dad'. Mr Nagey broke down in tears.

Jennifer, now 34, wrote that she still loved her father and wanted to meet up with him.

'He met me at the airport with a big bunch of flowers,' she said.

'It was like it was all in slow motion and we ran through the airport into each others arms.'
Jennifer and mother Pam look through family photographs reminding them of the life they used to live

Jennifer and mother Pam look through family photographs reminding them of the life they used to live. They moved away from the former family home but are still in touch with Mr Nagey

Mr Nagey also had an emotional phone conversation with his former wife until the 'battery on the mobile died'.

Jennifer believes that her father suffered from Dissociative Fugue. The condition is associated with memory loss and leads to people wandering away from their families.

She said that she has now decided to tell her story because she wanted to give hope to other people, that 'miracles can happen'.

She urged anybody who was away from their family or had left home to let somebody know as the 'not knowing can really affect you'.

Mr Nagey has not moved back in with his family, who relocated to Queensland's Sunshine Coast after the tragedy, but he is regular contact with them. 

By Rick Dewsbury

Source: dailymail.co.uk