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Joan and John Gallagher, 64 and 62, met in June 1983 after a windsurfing session went wrong. They now live together in Catalonia in Spain
In 1983, Joan Tuohy was living and working in Boyle, in County Roscommon in the west of Ireland, an area popular for its water sports on nearby Lough Key. One summer’s day she was out windsurfing on the lough when she got into difficulties. “It’s quite a big lake and when the wind changed I realised I wouldn’t make it back to shore,” Joan says. Luckily, she was able to raise the alarm and her friend, who had a speedboat, came to her rescue. Also in the boat was a young man she didn’t know.
“I had been away at university and had just come home,” John says. “My friend asked if I could help to rescue Joan – it’s quite hard to pull a person and their windsurfing board into a boat alone.” They sped out across the lough and John helped Joan out of the water. “He had a Mars bar in his pocket and when I got in the boat he took it out and asked if I was hungry,” she says, laughing. “I thought he looked very handsome.” He remembers that she looked “very stranded and cold” in her bathing suit. Continue reading...