It has been 12 years since Wesley Ryan watched his beloved car drive away from him – and the sight "broke him in half".

Back in the day, Wesley was known around San Antonio, Texas for his white 1993 Ford Mustang, which he fondly called "Christine".

But when his wife and high school sweetheart, Laura Ryan, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Wesley sold the car to help pay for her mounting medical bills.

"[It's] not his world, but it's one of the pieces to his heart. You just can't replace it with any other vehicle," Wesley's daughter Jeni Ryan told CBS News. "He's not materialistic — he just wants his family taken care of. And at the end of the day, this all started because my mom was diagnosed with cancer and my dad being the man that he is, he decided to sell his vehicle in a heartbeat."

So as a means of thanking their father for all his years of kindness and devotion, Jeni and her brother Jake Ryan tracked down the very same Mustang and presented it to their father earlier this week.

Jake managed to find the Mustang's VIN number on Craigslist, and within the same day, the siblings explained the situation to the owner, struck up a deal, and drove for an hour and a half to pick up the car in the city of Kyle.

With the help of their mother, now cancer-free, Jake and Jeni asked their father to meet them in a Kohl's parking lot for the surprise. They blindfolded their bewildered father before parking the Mustang in front of Wesley.

Needless to say, he was overcome with emotion with when the blindfold came off.

The siblings took a video of their father's reaction and posted it to Facebook where it was viewed thousands of times.

"I know how much it broke him in half seeing that car drive away from him. A day I'll never forget," Jake captioned the video. "Well… She's back home pops and here to stay this time. Looking forward to building this car with you this time instead of being in a booster seat looking out the window."

Jeni told CBS News that she and her brother had tried to buy the car back several times over the years – which is why she can't help but cry every time she watches the video of Wesley and Christine's reunion.

"He never expected anything back from us. All my dad wanted us to be is successful, and that's all he ever asked from us. He never asked for his vehicle back," she told the news outlet. "Literally, words cannot explain that video because that video explains absolutely everything."

(WATCH the video below or our international readers can watch the video on the CBS News website)

Drive This Sweet Story To Your Friends By Sharing To Social Media – Photo by Jake Ryan