One day last May, the team at Oyster Travel in Norwich received a message from a distressed customer that no agent wants to receive.  

Two of their loyal clients, retired couple Ricky and Carol were on holiday in Cyprus – and Carol had been rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke.

It was a horrible shock ­– they were much-loved customers, and this booking had been particularly special because the couple had worked out it was their 100th holiday together.

The news wasn’t good – Carol was in a coma and they would not be returning home as scheduled. Ricky needed to move hotels, to be closer to his wife, and he needed guiding through the insurance process.

Lydia Harmer, who works in customer services for the Norwich-based travel agency, stepped up to be Ricky’s key contact.

“It was a sad situation,” she says. “He was obviously on his own, and so we were constantly talking because he needed a lot of help and guidance. He had to pay an upfront lump sum to the hospital and he needed that to be reimbursed by the insurance company, who were also in charge of the repatriation, but those arrangements kept having to change because Carol wasn’t stable enough.”


Ricky moved from their holiday hotel in Paphos to accommodation nearer Larnaca General Hospital and the airport, which Lydia helped him do.  

“We got into a routine of speaking at a certain time each day. He was stuck in Cyprus for quite some time in the end – Carol was in the coma about three weeks, and visiting hours were limited.”

“Ricky had given me the authorisation to speak on his behalf with the insurance company, so I was speaking with them too, liaising about the repatriation side of things. They had to fly out a medical professional to accompany Carol on her journey home, and we needed a flight with space for them all, and a hospital stretcher.”


A cuppa and a chat

Eventually Carol was flown back to the UK, and first transferred to Norwich Hospital and then a stroke clinic.

“Ricky would come and see us on his way there or his way back and update us on her progress, bless him,” says Lydia. “It wasn’t just the insurance I helped him with, he wasn’t very good on his phone so I’d help him download film clips and music so he could share little moments of joy with Carol when he visited her.”


“Even though Carol’s mobility hadn’t been great, owing to a previous stroke, she was very clued up on things, and so I think he felt a bit adrift without her there.”


Sadly, two months after their return to the UK, Carol passed away.

“First Ricky wrote us a letter and then he eventually came in. We took him out the back for a chat, and Vicky, my manager and I, also went to the funeral.”

The bond Lydia now has with Ricky goes deeper than that of a regular customer: “I feel like I am a granddaughter to him,” she says. 

“He doesn’t have immediate family and when your world falls apart like that, you just need someone to take control and take the stress away so you can focus on the person who needs you.”


© TTG Media

Lydia wasn’t able to collect her award in person at the TTG Top 50 ceremony in Manchester on 23 April because she was on holiday in Morocco at the time, but Oyster Travel Manager Sophie Baker did on her behalf and Facetimed her from the event.


Ricky then came to the agency on Lydia’s first day back and gave her a congratulations card and a box of chocolates.


“Obviously I didn’t help Ricky with any intention of getting an award. I just purely wanted to be there for him. But once I’d got over the shock of winning, it was really nice to be recognised,” said Lydia. 


As a footnote, this isn’t the end of Ricky and Lydia’s endearing friendship. Ricky is still travelling and Lydia hopes he’ll have many more adventures, with her metaphorically holding his hand through the booking and check-in process. “He’s already been back to Cyprus, to visit a friend who moved there, and he’s booked again, so he’s gaining more confidence, and he’s very social, so we’ll be encouraging him all the way," she says.