‘I’m so overjoyed to marry the heroic man who saved my life’
BEAMING Saera Wilson has married the man who saved her life during the Tunisian terror attack that left 30 British holidaymakers dead.
Mathew James and Saera – whom he shielded from gunman Seifeddine Rezgui – released two white doves of peace after the ceremony as a poignant reminder of those who could not be at the wedding – including the victims of the atrocity.
In her traditional white dress, Seara, 27, kissed heroic Mathew, 32, who was shot three times when he dived in front of his fiancee during the massacre in Sousse.
Among her four bridesmaids was her daughter Teagan, eight, who walked down a hotel’s aisle first wearing a mini version of her mum’s gown. The couple also have son Caden, two.
Saturday’s wedding was funded by donations from wellwishers and volunteers including Amore Events wedding organiser, Gemma Louise Lang and Village Flower Studio.
The day was organised through ITV’s Lorraine programme and held at Cardiff’s New House Country Hotel, which donated the reception, food, room hire, drinks package and bridal suite after the couple said it was their dream wedding venue.
After the couple exchanged vows in front of 120 family and friends, they left to the sound of Bryan Adams’ song Everything I Do (I Do It For You) – an apt choice for a man who put his life on the line for love.
The service was a fresh start for the couple, who were smitten since they first met at a Cardiff nightclub – and a chance to put the trauma of the past 20 months behind them.
Yet Saera admitted her big day was a “bittersweet” experience because of the ongoing suffering for all the victims of the attack in Sousse.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror after the service, an emotional Saera said: “To us this is a new chapter because we get to put it behind us and move on. Everyone says they are marrying their best friend on their wedding day, which is true. But I’m also marrying my absolute hero. I was so overjoyed to walk down the aisle.”
Mathew – who was still in pain in his leg as he made it down the aisle – added: “As soon as I saw Saera I filled up with tears and tried to look away, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
Yet among the joy, there was inevitably sadness – and the fear of upsetting those other survivors they had befriended who would never get their own happy ending.
It was especially difficult that the wedding came in the week of the inquest into the deaths of the British victims of the attack on July 13, 2015.
Saera said: “It couldn’t have been worse timing because we’re celebrating while all the people who have lost family are there.
“How do I go through the happiest day of my life when they’re all going through that? It’s brought all the memories flooding back and it’s been hard. While we were lucky to get away with our lives, it’s caused us problems in so many ways.”
Cuddling his wife-to-be before the wedding, boiler fitter Mathew said: “I described myself as the luckiest man alive after what happened in Tunisia, which I still am. But Saera and I have been through an awful lot. Since the shooting 18 months ago, it’s been a bit of a struggle. I’m still in a lot of pain. I get really bad stabbing pains down my left leg and my right arm is numb. It kept me out of work for about eight months, which isn’t ideal when you run your own business. I couldn’t walk properly. I was on crutches for a while.
“I had thought everything would recover fine, but when we went back after some MRI scans on the bullet wounds, it was a different story.
“The bullets tracked through the arm, the stomach and the chest – and when I was told the nerve damage in my abdomen would not get any better, I felt really angry.
“I was told that if they did operate it could do more damage to my femoral nerve and I could lose the use of my leg. It’s really painful as it is. Anything can set it off. It was quite upsetting to know it would never fully recover. Someone else had done this to me. It was no fault of my own.”
Mathew still can’t work and is even on morphine for the pain.
“I’m in constant pain. I try not to use the morphine unless I have to because it is so addictive.”
Mathew has been offered extra medical help by Dr Younis, the surgeon who saved his life. But the groom said: “I’m not going back. No way. As much as I would like to thank Dr Younis, I couldn’t go back.”
And while they were upbeat over their big day, they openly admit the psychological trauma they suffered has been devastating.
Saera, who helps Mathew with the accounts for his company, said: “We were both diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety problems and we go for counselling.”
The couple even normally stay away from crowded places and Mathew’s panic attacks are particularly severe, according to his bride.
She said: “When the fireworks were going off at the renaming of the Millennium Stadium, he was on the phone in a state telling me to check the news or else he couldn’t leave the house where he was doing a job.”
Mathew added: “I still get really bad nightmares. Whenever it’s brought back up, I will spend the next week waking up in a sweat.”
But it was on an occasion when Mathew was awake, though still heavily medicated, that the couple had their most frightening experience last summer.
The 16-stone former rugby prop forward heard one of his friends had been killed in a car crash and another seriously injured in a separate incident. He became so paranoid he began to believe he was cursed.
Mathew admitted that at one point he was prepared to drive his van off a cliff and kill himself.
He said: “I just lost the plot and started thinking this thing was going to make me kill myself or it would kill my family. It sounds absolutely ridiculous now, but at the time it was terrifying. I was taking a lot of morphine for the pain, which doesn’t help you think straight. That’s when I stopped taking that stuff.”
He added: “Me and Saera suffered a lot. We would come home after a day in a bit of mess and snap at each other. It’s not been an easy ride. We’ve even had a few nights away from each other. But it’s probably made us stronger. We’ve been through a lot more than most people could even dream of.”