Cops who met on tsunami rescue return to wed in paradise (original) (raw)
Two cops who fell for each other on the tsunami-hit beaches of Thailand have told of their joy after getting married yards from where they first met.
Two cops who fell for each other on the tsunami-hit beaches of Thailand have told of their joy after getting married yards from where they first met.
Lydia Hewson and Andy McKelvey were part of a British team sent to Phuket in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day disaster that killed 230,000 people.
But despite exhaustion and horror as they helped clear up in the hellish aftermath of the tragedy, the pair found themselves irresistibly drawn together by a special chemistry.
And five years later they wed by candlelight on the paradise island's Bangtao beach.
Recalling their first meeting, 35-year-old Lydia said: "I'd dealt with fatalities before but nothing on such an enormous scale.
"I had to work hard to keep my spirits up.
"Luckily Andy and I are quite similar and we developed a really strong bond. I knew I could trust him with anything."
And Andy said: "I noticed Lydia straight away because she had lovely long hair and seemed really friendly and bubbly.
"As we spent time together we seemed to have a real chemistry and became close friends."
Lydia, from Cheshire, and Andy, from Cornwall, worked 12-hour shifts carrying hundreds of bodies to a makeshift mortuary.
But after eight days the work was halted by a new tsunami alert.
Lydia said: "We were literally running for our lives.
"About 1,000 people died in earthquakes that night and we all worried we wouldn't survive it.
"Then one of my friends was killed in a car crash in Thailand.
"I was devastated - but Andy was my rock." Days later, Cheshire Police flew their team home.
Andy had to stay for another month and the couple kept in touch by phone and email.
By the time he returned, Lydia was due to begin a long-planned round-the-world trip.
But she said: "I couldn't go off for 10 months without saying thank you to Andy for everything he had done for me.
"We agreed to meet halfway between our homes - Junction 16 of the M5 at Bristol.
"I said I had feelings for him and when he said he felt the same for me we had our first kiss."
The pair agreed to stay single until Lydia returned. But she later invited Andy to join her in Canada on the last leg of her trip.
Andy said: "Although we had become close in Thailand, I had a lot of apprehension about going to Canada because you never really know if it'll work in the same way in normal circumstances."
And Lydia said: "I couldn't stop worrying our feelings might have changed. Thankfully, the minute Andy walked into the hostel all my fears melted away.
"I put my arms around him and it felt like we'd never been apart."
Lydia quit the police on her return and moved in with Andy in Cornwall, where she is now writing a book about her tsunami experiences.
And she was overjoyed when Andy - still a cop - popped the question during a romantic dinner.
The couple wed last month 200 yards from where they first met.
Andy said: "That meeting seems like an age ago yet at the same time only yesterday. But I couldn't be happier I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Lydia."