A TEAR-JERKING video captures the moment an Irish woman surprises her family with her secret return home from Australia.
Emma Priestley left her hometown of Dublin, Ireland last July to travel down under, but arrived back home earlier than expected on Friday to the knowledge of no one but her best friend.
Taking advantage of this fact, the 25-year-old decided to give her family the surprise of their lives, turning up unexpectedly on their doorstep on the Friday evening.
The video begins as Emma knocks on the family’s front door, which is answered by dad Alan, 54, who is stunned into silence after doing a double take, realising who his impromptu visitor is.
Alan simply says “You’re joking” before shouting through to wife Denise, 53, inside: “Denno there’s somebody at the door.”
Alan then steps outside and embraces his daughter in a tight hug before Emma’s sister Kim, 30, appears with her newborn baby, bursting into tears upon seeing her sibling.
Emma is quickly surrounded by her sisters, nephews and mum who all queue up to hug and kiss her, with the majority left with their hands over their mouths in a combination of shock and joy.
Emma shared the heartwarming video to social media on Saturday with the caption: “The most wholesome video, surprised my family after being in Australia the last 10 and a half months.”
The clip has since received over 325,000 likes and more than 4,000 comments from users left in awe at the family’s touching reunion.
One user wrote: “Gosh I cried from the start…10 months, I thought it was 10 years.”
Another commented: “Dad’s hug shows the relief of knowing he can relax with you being home.”
A third said: “For some of us this is a dream. To be loved that much must feel unbelievable.”
Another wrote: “The sobbing before they even saw you properly.”
A fifth replied: “Beautiful. love how the end just cuts when nanny is about to give a few F’s to whoever filmed it for keeping the secret! Family is everything.”
Speaking today Emma said: “My family were my biggest supporters in my decision even though they knew they would miss me a lot, we are a very close-knit family.
“I had recently told them that I wasn’t coming home until next year so it was a complete shock to see me at the front door when I showed up.
“I decided to move to Australia because I had seen so many other Irish people do it and love it and stayed over there , it’s such an amazing lifestyle and not to mention the weather is amazing.
“But I also wanted to move for personal growth, I needed to get out of my comfort zone and see what else was out there.
“I moved to Perth in Western Australia – absolutely beautiful beaches and beautiful people.
“Australia is such a long way away and I know we have FaceTime and stuff but it’s hard being away from your family.
“I was loving Australia but the hardship of doing it on your own was starting to get to me, and then my two sisters have just had two new babies so I decided it was time to come home and not stay for another year.
“They are never all there on a Friday. I thought it was just going to be my mam but my dad had taken the week off work.
“My eldest sister and brother-in-law had been away the night before so my mam and dad were minding her two babies so they were there to get the kids and were about to leave.
“My other older sister had come down with her two babies and my little sister was off work, it was a Friday and no one is ever there on a Friday but the universe worked its magic and had everyone there.
“They were all shocked but so happy to see me – for the rest of the weekend they just kept looking at me and at each other and saying ‘I can’t believe she’s here’.
“The person recording is my best friend, she knew I was coming home and she’s the one who collected me from the airport to drive me up so I could surprise them.”
