59 years later Helen meets her lifesaver

Having finally met the man she says saved her life 59 years ago, Warragul’s Helen Perikkentis has a new friend for life.

Having made the trip to Bowen in Queensland to meet Miltiades Neothyton earlier this year, Helen said they had made an instant connection in a friendship that has continued. “It was amazing, we connected straight away. “Every week since we met, we have talked, and the texts have been going all the time.

“It’s worked out that we’ve caught up twice in four months, as we were invited to the christening of his daughter’s baby.”

With her family coming out to Australia from their native Cyprus, their journey included a stop in Chairo, Egypt where they waited to board a ship.

Helen had vividly remembered her ordeal, which happened when she was just five years old.

A neatly dressed couple had taken her into a shop to be auctioned off as a slave, with Miltiades leading a successful search after noticing Helen’s distraught mother.

The chance meeting came some 59 years later after a local who holidays in Bowen overhead Helen’s story, one that had matched Miltiades’ version of events which he had been sharing up in Queensland.

“He said everything was how I had remembered it,” she said.

“As the ship crossed through the Suez Canal there were black men eating spaghetti with their fingers, and we both remembered those little things.”

During the trip, both Helen and Miltiades’ shared in cooking, fishing, sightseeing and their love of hospitality.

Helen and her family have worked in takeaway most of their life, while Miltiades started a café with his uncle before building his own motel.

Helen plans to return to Bowen in 2020 to catch up with Miltiades again, with the Queensland town reminding both of them of their native Cyprus.

“We’re going to try and go up every two years,” Helen said.

“And he said he would try and catch up with us whenever he comes down here, his daughter is in Melbourne.

“Mum always said we wish him wealth and health.

“Without him, Mum wouldn’t have come to Australia, I would have been sold as a slave and my life wouldn’t be anywhere near the quality it is now. “He saved my life. “I thank him for what he has provided, and that is a good life for me and my family.”