A COUPLE caring for two children who saw their parents drown before them in Paphos this week yesterday told British papers of the children’s remarkable courage.
Tim and Kim Allen were holidaying with Scottish couple Peter and Alison Rainey and their two children, when tragedy struck the young family on Tuesday – only a day before they were due to return home.
The Raineys drowned after their dinghy capsized in rough seas in Ayios Giorgios near Peyia. Their nine-year-old son Callum also nearly drowned in the accident, but was rescued by locals as his sister was forced to watch her parents struggle from the shore.
The couple, who had been holidaying with the Raineys in Paphos, told the Daily Mirror they had spent time comforting the traumatised children before escorting them home to their grandparents on Wednesday, who then took them to their family home in Dollar, Clackmannanshire.
Tim Allen said: “They are extremely brave. They are doing as well as could be expected considering what they’ve been through. Both my wife and I have been amazed by their courage throughout the whole ordeal.”
Nevertheless, the emotional toll on Tim and Kim has also been enormous. At the couples’ farm, near Pool of Muckhart, Clacks, Kim’s father, Alistair Cowan, said the horrific accident had crushed the family.
Cowan, 69, said: “Tim and Kim came home shattered and we just sat round the table with them, having a drink and talking about what had happened. They were in disbelief, and they needed to talk about it. They told us how they’d gone out for the day and didn’t know anything about the tragedy until it was all over. As soon as he found out, Tim went straight up to the hospital. He then spent the whole night in the hospital comforting Callum while Kim looked after Catriona in the villa. On Wednesday, they had the task of packing everybody’s clothes before the flight back. I met them at the airport and brought them home, while Callum and Catriona went to Dollar with Alison’s parents. They are just gathering up some things before taking the kids to their home in Yorkshire.”
In the long-term, Cowan said the children’s maternal aunt had offered to look after them at her home in Kent. However, what decision would finally be made was not yet known, he told the British daily.
He added: “Callum is still deeply in shock, but Catriona seems to be coping quite well just now although we don’t know how they will react to being back without their parents or in the longer term… It’s all just mind-blowing, a great tragedy.”
On Thursday, reports said Peter, 49, and Alison, 41, would have a joint funeral in Dollar Parish Church. The local minister said prayers would be said tomorrow, but added it could be midweek before the actual funeral takes place because it will take time for the bodies to be repatriated.
