Tears and joy at airports as families separated for more than a year are finally reunited
Many huggy returns! Tears and joy at airports as families who have been separated for more than a year because of Covid travel restrictions are finally reunited after quarantine rules are loosened
- Families were finally reunited yesterday after more than a year apart
- Quarantine rules were dropped for double-vaccinated US and EU citizens
- Those arriving greeted with ‘Welcome home’ banners as they met loves ones
- Some families cried tears of joy after hugging relatives for first time in months
After up to two years apart because of coronavirus travel restrictions, families were overcome with emotion as they were finally able to reunite yesterday.
In heart-warming scenes at the country’s airports, long-separated relatives embraced as quarantine rules were dropped for double-vaccinated US and EU citizens.
Those arriving were greeted with handwritten ‘welcome home’ signs as they dashed towards their waiting relatives in arrivals halls.
While some families cried tears of joy after hugging relatives for the first time in months, others told how in the darkest days of the pandemic they worried about never seeing their loved ones again.
After a year separated from her mother, Shiona Seaman stood in the arrivals hall at Heathrow yesterday with a sign reading: ‘Hi mom! Welcome back to the UK. I missed you so much!’
The housewife, 27, said she was racked with nerves as she made the two-hour drive from her home in Suffolk to the airport
Hi Mom, I missed you so much
After a year separated from her mother, Shiona Seaman stood in the arrivals hall at Heathrow yesterday with a sign reading: ‘Hi mom! Welcome back to the UK. I missed you so much!’
The housewife, 27, said she was racked with nerves as she made the two-hour drive from her home in Suffolk to the airport.
But she beamed with joy as she was finally able to embrace her mother Sandra Clark, 60, who had flown in from Washington DC.
She said: ‘I’m very excited about the rules changing because otherwise my dad, who is coming in a few weeks, wouldn’t have been able to visit because of his work.
‘He gets only two weeks off, so if he had to do a ten-day quarantine it wouldn’t have been worth it.’
Lucinda Tooze, 31, from Plymouth, wrapped her arms around her sister Sophie Lockard at Heathrow airport after being separated for almost two years
Sisters embrace after 2 years apart
Lucinda Tooze, 31, from Plymouth, wrapped her arms around her sister Sophie Lockard at Heathrow airport after being separated for almost two years.
Lucinda was waiting for her sister and her two young sons, who live in Miami, with a sign emblazoned with both countries’ flags reading ‘The Lockards – we missed you!’
She said: ‘I’m very emotional and can’t even believe it really.’
After walking through the arrival gates, Mrs Lockard said: ‘It’s fantastic to see my sister and very surreal.’
Sue Hasyniec was ecstatic after embracing her only son Joshua for the first time since October 2019 at Heathrow
Wedding blues… then joy
Sue Hasyniec was ecstatic after embracing her only son Joshua for the first time since October 2019 at Heathrow.
The emotional reunion came two days after the 66-year-old from Devon had to watch her son’s wedding online after being blocked from travelling to the US.
She greeted Joshua and his wife Hannah, from Dallas, with a Union Jack balloon emblazoned with their names.
She added: ‘I was really excited when I found out he wasn’t going to have to quarantine. Initially he was going to have to quarantine for five days.’ Her son, 27, said: ‘Seeing my mum is fantastic.’
Among the first to benefit from the new rules were David and Susan Handfield, who were delighted to meet their granddaughter Charlotta for the first time
Grand to meet our new addition
Among the first to benefit from the new rules were David and Susan Handfield, who were delighted to meet their granddaughter Charlotta for the first time.
She arrived at Heathrow airport with her parents on a flight from Berlin.
Charlotta was born in February but virus concerns and travel restrictions prevented her parents from taking her to London until now. Mrs Handfield, 70, said: ‘We’ve been waiting for this for quite a long time.’
Debbie Greaves waited anxiously at Terminal Five at Heathrow yesterday with a homemade sign reading ‘Hello Josh’
Mum’s delight as son flies in
Debbie Greaves waited anxiously at Terminal Five at Heathrow yesterday with a homemade sign reading ‘Hello Josh’.
She embraced her son, who she has not seen for nine months, as he arrived on a flight from Sweden.
There were similar emotional scenes at Gatwick, where Ben Gilkes greeted his girlfriend Cristina Paiva with a bouquet – and a marriage proposal.
Mr Gilkes was supposed to travel to Portugal with her earlier this year but was struck down with Covid. The illness, which fell between his first and second vaccinations, meant the couple had not seen each other for two months.
Watched by Mr Gilkes’s mother, Rosie Nightingale, the ecstatic couple shared a loving embrace inside the arrivals hall.
