A FORMER South Cheshire College student who has not seen his family for 16 years is desperately trying to find them amid fears that he may have passed on a genetic disease to his daughter.

Chris Turner, 33, who now lives at Flint, is scouring Crewe to trace his daughter and anxiously hoping she might read this article.

His former girlfriend, who he met at the college on Dane Bank Avenue, would be 33 this year and gave birth to Chris' first child in 1988.

Chris has a rare genetic disorder that he is worried he could have passed on to his daughter

He explained: 'I must find my daughter and former girlfriend because I need to warn them that she may have this illness and may not yet know about it. She would be 17 years of age now.'

Chris, who was born and raised in Handforth, says his former girl-friend lived in Coppenhall when he left to join the Army and believes she may have married and changed her name.

He was given the unfortunate news about his illness by a specialist whilst working in Saudi Arabia and was forced to leave the Army when he found out.

He said: 'I discovered that I have a chronic heart syndrome after my father passed away of the same disorder.

'It has devastated my family as my mother, father and grandparents were all diagnosed and died of it.

'It means that my heart could fail at any time, and I cannot drive or be involved in strenuous exercise; it has had a real hold of my life.'

Chris has tried numerous ways to try and track down his estranged family he left in the late Eighties.

'I have tried the internet, the Salvation Army, her old address and my old friends based in Alsager and Middlewich but I am still looking.

'I just want to get the message to them that if my daughter has the illness, her and her mother just need to be kept an eye on it.'

Chris is now a widower following his wife's death in the late 1990s and has an adopted daughter, Kisha, who is six years old.

'My wife and I did not want to risk conceiving a child ourselves as we were both fully aware that my illness could be passed on.

'It has caused so much devastation in my family that I could not have taken any more. I live for my adopted daughter now but I won't stop until I find my former girlfriend and my daughter.'

The Chronicle has not given fuller details for reasons of privacy. If Chris Turner's family wishes to get in touch they are asked to phone our newsdesk of 01270 502431, call in at our office at 32-34 Victoria Street, Crewe, or alternatively e-mail crewe.news@cheshirenews.co.uk