A Killygordon woman is on top of the world following a proposal with a difference from her fiancée.
Siobhán Dolan from Crossroads and boyfriend Stephen Coyle from Strabane now live and work in the United States. But they decided to commit to one another at the very roof of the world.
Stephen had decided that if he was going to ask Siobhán to marry him, it would have to be in a location with a memorable backdrop – and what could be more memorable than having the highest mountain in the world photo-bombing your engagement pic?
Recently Stephen and Siobhán made it to Everest Base Camp – 5,364m above sea level – after eight days of trekking. And according to Stephen, his intended had no idea what was coming.
“We travel a lot and it was in our plans this year to go to Nepal and India,” Stephen explained. “When I realised when we were going to Base Camp I thought that it would be a good idea to do it then. Siobhán had no idea.”
However Stephen’s best laid plans almost came a cropper when Siobhán all but discovered the ring in the rucksack ahead of time.
“She nearly found the ring the fourth day into the trek,” Stephen admitted. “I was carrying all our stuff in one rucksack. She was in there looking for clothing and she took out the jacket. She said, “There’s something in the pocket.”
Stephen and Siobhán first met in 2011 at Oxygen Music Festival before leaving Ireland together a year later.
Stephen’s work as a business consultant takes them all over the world and they have visited some 50 countries since 2012.
Speaking from Kathmandu after descending from Everest Base Camp, Stephen explained he and his new fiancée are planning on driving around India in a tuk-tuk.
“We’ve no date set just yet,” Stephen added. “But we’ve talked about it. We had a four-day walk down from Everest so we had plenty of time to talk about it.”
After Everest, Stephen will be hoping the relation isn’t all downhill from here on.
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