Hairstylist discovers one of his favorite clients is his half-sister

A woman gets her hair styled.
(Image credit: iStock)

Over the last six years, hairstylist Troy Winget and his client Andrea Quaint Fleck grew close, spending appointments swapping stories about their lives.

Quint Fleck shared that her dad was adopted, and Winget revealed that he never knew his father. Last October, both decided to take ancestry DNA tests, with Quint Fleck hoping to learn more about her dad's biological family and Winget interested in any details he could find about his own father.

Winget and Quint Fleck live in Calgary, and soon after registering on one website, Winget received a message from a man living in the United States. It turns out he was the half-brother of Winget's father. He told Winget that they were both connected to a woman in Calgary, and he asked if it would be okay for him to share Winget's information with her. Winget gave his permission, and his uncle sent his contact information, as well as a photo of Winget, to the woman: Quint Fleck.

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When Quint Fleck learned that the man was her father's half-brother, making Winget her half-brother, "I just remember feeling like my heart stopped," she told CBC News. Once Winget discovered his connection to Quint Fleck, "the hairs on the back of my neck stood up," he said. Their father, Erik Quint, is 74, and said he never knew he had a son. They are making up for lost time, with Winget joining his newfound family for dinners and celebrations. Quint Fleck told CBC News it feels wonderful to find someone "that I didn't even know was missing from my life."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.