‘MY HEART IS DESTROYED’
Wife’s anniversary tribute to husband killed in Greek blaze
A BRIDE who lost her husband in horrific circumstances in a wildfire during their honeymoon in Greece has said her ‘heart is destroyed’ as she marks their third wedding anniversary.
On July 23, 2018, Zoe Holohan and Brian O’Callaghan-Westropp, saw their dream honeymoon turn into a nightmare when wildfires swept across the region of Attica. The tragedy led to the deaths of 102 people, including Brian.
The couple had been married just five days when the inferno took his life.
Taking to Twitter, the grief-stricken widow said: ‘July 19th is a day I should celebrate, my wedding anniversary, but it’s one I dread every year. No point in pretence, my heart is destroyed but
‘I’ll toast my husband’s memory’
tonight I’ll toast my husband’s memory. His other anniversary looms in 4 days’ time. Not a good week, bear with me.’
Zoe was seriously injured in the process of fleeing the wildfire which ripped through the village of Mati.
The terrible day started with Brian calling her to the front door of their accommodation to see the carnage of the fire unfold in front of their eyes.
They rushed to leave, but the fire already encroached on the garden and pool of their villa, and chaos ensued.
Zoe explained on The Late Late Show earlier this year: ‘It was like a horror movie where they start out all happy and then you’re plunged into this horrific situation.’
The emerging nightmare got even worse as they attempted to escape through an electric gate, which stopped working because of a power outage,.
During their attempted escape, her dress and hair caught fire, causing her serious burns.
The couple then rescued five children in their car but as the raging flames chased them, they crashed the car.
‘The next thing I remember was that the car crashed into a tree and Brian fell out onto the road. I tried to grab him back but I couldn’t reach him,’ she recalled.
‘He just fell into flames right in front of me and screamed: “Why?”, which is the last thing that Brian ever said. And that was it. He was gone. He just disappeared.’ Zoe was eventually rescued but the loss of her husband is still all too real.
However, in her book As The Smoke Clears, she focuses on the cherished memories of their wedding and early part of their honeymoon. ‘My happy place is when I visualise Brian on the morning of our honeymoon, and at this stage we have just arrived in Greece.’
She said Brian was ‘the world’s worst gossip’ and they got great fun out of reliving the ‘shenanigans’ of their wedding. ‘I don’t want to remember Brian’s end, I want to remember him in that moment,’ she added.