My brother vanished from the hospital he was being treated at

For the past year, Shane Barnett's family have spent every day looking for him. The 49-year-old has not been seen since walking out of Wales' biggest hospital on a busy Sunday afternoon in May last year.

He was spotted on CCTV on Allensbank Road near the University Hospital of Wales later that day (May 7), but has not been seen since.

Every day since, his family, with support from South Wales Police, have been searching for Shane but there has not been a single sighting or any information that could shed light on his whereabouts.

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His distraught sister Nicola Casey says police have told the family that he may longer be alive, but she refuses to believe it until he's found. She says: "I have spent hours daily searching every inch of Cardiff since he went missing. I've put posters up, I've posted his picture on any Cardiff social media pages I could find. I've had many people message me with possible sightings which I'm so grateful for, I've gone there to check and unfortunately it hasn't been him but I won't stop checking."

"My mother has also been checking possible sightings but nothing. Every time I see a post on the police Facebook page or Wales Online saying a body has been found I feel physically sick thinking is this Shane? When I see posts saying a missing person has been found safe I'm praying it will be our turn soon.

"We are desperate to find Shane and to know that he's alright. We are all here to help and support him any way we can. If Shane sees this please get in touch message me or mam on Facebook or if you feel like you cant talk yet get a friend to message us. We love and miss you so much and need to know your OK. This is killing us. If someone out there knows where Shane is and is choosing to keep quiet please put your self in my family's position. How would you feel not knowing if your relative is alive or not? Please do the decent thing he's not in any trouble we and the police just need to know he's safe and well."

South Wales Police has issued the last sighting on CCTV in the hope it will jog someone's memory or help bring forward some information.

His mum Diane Bush has described how she gets up every morning and wonders if her son is alive or dead. Shane has gone missing in the past, but this is the longest that he has not been in contact with his family.

"It was the police who came to the house to tell us that Shane was missing," Diane has told WalesOnline. "Since that sighting on CCTV there has not been a single sighting. Nothing. It has not stopped us from looking every day. We have been everywhere we can think of and will never stop looking.

"When there are reports on the news that a body has been found, my heart drops. My daughter spends her lunch break going out in the car looking for Shane. I keep seeing him all the time. I thought I saw him getting out of a council vehicle the other day, but when I went to check it wasn't him.

"The police have been amazing. They keep in touch regularly and have issued lots of appeals but there has been nothing."

South Wales Police says "extensive enquiries" have been carried out to locate Shane but there have been no confirmed sightings since he was seen on Allensbank Road, close to the hospital, at around 12.30pm on Sunday, May 7. "He is known to live a transient lifestyle and could possibly be living in a tent," said a force spokeswoman. "He has links to Swansea and has also previously lived in the Roath area of Cardiff."

Diane adds: “If anyone knows where he is, please let us know. If Shane sees this message, can he do the same — just let us know he is okay. If he doesn't want to come home that's fine, just let us know he's okay.”

In an appeal on Channel 5's Vanished: The Search for Britain's Missing Diane spoke directly to her son. She said: "We miss you, we love you and we are desperately trying to find you. Please get in touch. We've searched high and low, all weathers. "We won't give up on you - never. I know you like to prove people wrong, and I've been told there's a possibility that you may no longer be alive. So prove them wrong; show us you're alive.

"I will come anywhere you want to, to see you. Anywhere at all. Just please get in touch. You have no idea how much you are missed and loved."

Shane is described as 6ft 5ins tall, of slim build, with short, light grey hair. He was last seen wearing a grey North Face t-shirt, a black jacket, green cargo trousers, and black trainers, and carrying a black rucksack. In June police issued a photograph of Shane from when he was younger in the hope that old friends and associates who might have information would come forward.

Anyone who may have seen Shane since his disappearance, or who has information which could help find him, is asked to contact police by calling 101 or going to the website and quoting occurrence number 2300147308. To get the latest policing news straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter here.