NEWLYWEDS TORN APART BY CORONAVIRUS
JASON AND NATALIE THOUGHT THEY’D BE SPENDING THEIR FIRST MONTHS OF MARRIED LIFE TOGETHER …
Newlyweds Jason and Natalie Blundell were hoping to enjoy married life soon after their fairytale wedding earlier this year.
But the bride and groom are now stranded on opposite sides of the world thanks to the coronavirus – 17,000km apart.
Australian advertising worker Jason, 32, tied the knot with Natalie, 30, at a ceremony in Cardiff, Wales.
They managed to celebrate their union on a honeymoon together across the world in locations such as Florida and the Maldives and were due to start a new life together in Australia – just before the travel restrictions were put in place.
In early March, after six months travelling the globe – and just before COVID-19 lockdowns started to spread across Europe and Australia – Jason and Natalie bid each other goodbye at the airport in Wales, expecting to meet again soon.
Without knowing about the impending travel ban, groom Jason flew ahead to Sydney to try and find a place for the pair to live while Natalie stayed behind in her home in South Wales.
But disaster struck when the strict travel restrictions were then put in place due to the coronavirus sweeping the globe.
“We were really hoping to have a fresh new start in Sydney,” bride Natalie says sadly. “At the wedding, all the speeches were about us leaving and our new life together. It’s definitely not the start that we thought we were going to have.”
Jason is originally from Australia and served in the army before moving to the UK, where he met his new wife Natalie.
Sadly, after parting ways at the end of their honeymoon, the lovebirds have been torn apart by the pandemic.
They have started married life thousands of kilometres away from each other – a world away from the matrimonial bliss they both envisaged in Australia.
Their awful situation has enraged Jason, who is missing his new wife on the other side of the world.
“COVID-19 IS STOPPING ME FROM BEING WITH MY WIFE WHO CAN’T ENTER AUSTRALIA”
The pair have managed to stay in touch via video and phones. However, being apart for such a long time has certainly taken its toll – particularly as there is no firm date for when the international travel bans will finally be lifted.
In a rant against the virus on social media, Jason wrote: “This morning I have reached the point of screaming f--k you!”
“Not only are you stopping me from being with my wife who can’t enter Australia, you have also taken my morning coffee from me, and now you have taken my only mental release from me as well, the gym.
“Job loss, social distancing, more debt, no gym, not being with loved ones, no pub. You have managed to turn my home into a prison.”
Jason and Natalie are one of many couples and family members forced apart thanks to the unprecedented coronavirus restrictions.
Many Australians are still stranded abroad as airlines ceased flying and borders were suddenly closed.
Some citizens have even begged for repatriation flights to rescue them from foreign countries.
According to the federal government, the international travel ban could remain in place until 2021.