Siblings reunited after 53 years due to COVID-19

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The way 53-year-old Bev Boro and 73-year-old Doris Crippen look at each other, you might think they’re sisters catching up and you’re right, the only difference is they have 53 years of catching up to do.

“We hugged each other and we was just both overwhelmed. Because our search is over, we don’t have to look no more,” Doris said with tears streaming down her cheeks.

They are among five siblings, all separated and adopted by different families more than 50 years ago. Bev was only six months old at the time.

“I’ve missed out on her life and she’s missed out on mine but we found each other,” Doris said.

How did this happen? The sisters say it’s God’s work.

Doris was recovering from COVID-19 and a broken arm when she was transferred from Omaha where she lives to a hospital in Fremont where there was room for her. Bev, who works as a medication aid in that hospital saw Doris’s name on a patient list. It was a name her mother told her about years ago.

“And I said to her is your father Wendall Hoffman and she goes that’s my daddy. I pointed at myself knowing she’s hard of hearing and said that’s mine too,” Bev said, holding hands with Doris.

“I nearly fell out of the chair and I just burst into tears it was just a happy feeling to find my sister,” Doris responded.

The last time Doris was Bev she could hold her, and while there’s no substitute for the time lost, they’re excited for what comes next.

“It was the Lord’s blessing that I got sent here because if I wasn’t sent here I’d never had found her or the rest of my brothers and sisters,” Doris said.