Hi, my name is Kate, I used to live in Greater London. Now married to my wonderful husband Craig and living in western Iowa, just 5 minutes from Omaha Nebraska.
Craig and I first met online in February 2004 and we were just friends. I had been single for 8 months after a nearly 4 year relationship. I was completing my masters degree and perfectly happy the way I was
. Well, we sent PMs to each other regularly for a couple of months and then he disappered completely from the scene. It was then that I realised that: 'Hey, I must like this guy' as it became obvious that I missed chatting with him. After a couple of weeks, I sent a message just to ask if everything was okay. Turns out he'd been pretty ill and in hospital. He was fairly quiet for the next month, but then got talking again when he started to get better. Still nothing in it other than friendship. I started casually "seeing" a friend of mine, and mentioned this to Craig one day. The next morning I woke up to find a very long PM in my inbox from Craig saying that he thought I was the one he'd been waiting his whole life for 
Well my heart kinda stopped beating. This was around 8th August 2004. We spoke on the phone for the first time on his birthday 30th August and then everyday for hours after that. Soon making arrangements to meet in person.Finally get tickets organised at end of January 2005, he arrives in London February 9th and stays for two wonderful weeks during which time he officially asks me to marry him and of course I say YES!! He goes back to America on 23rd Feb, we're both heartbroken. A very rough week follows and eventually I get on a plane on 2nd March to visit him. It was supposed to only be a 2 week visit, but I end up staying for the whole 90 days.
We got married in Omaha on May 26th 2005 with his parents and some friends at the ceremony. I return to London on Memorial Day 30th May.
Horrible month apart before Craig joins me in London on 4th July. I'm settling back into the London routine and he starts to love it too. We're hoping to live there and start looking into visa matters for him. We have a wonderful summer and take lots of trips around the country and introduce him to the rest of my family.
He has a return date in early September, we call the airline to delay it whilst we figure out what we're going to do.
September 19th 2005 - Disaster Strikes!! Craig is attacked and his hand is badly broken. The guy who attacked him also attacked 2 other people and a plain clothes police officer before being arrested. An ambulance is called for Craig and we spend 5 hours in the ER while they watch him for head injuries and talk about the hand. About 4 different Drs look at the hand, including 2 surgeons and they decide it needs to be operated on if there is going to be any chance of regaining proper use of the hand. Well, he's not eligable for NHS treatment and his insurance wont cover him abroad so we have little choice but return to America for now.
September 20th 2005 - We go to the police station and spend 6 hours with them giving witness statements. They have the man in custody and charge him with 3 counts of common assult, afray, criminal damage and causing Grevious Bodily Harm to Craig. If he pleads Not Guilty the Crown Prosecution will need us to testify against him.
September 21st 2005 - Very sad goodbye to everyone, and we board a plane back to the U.S. I enter under the visa waiver.
September 28th 2005 - Dr referral to Orthopedic Hospital
1st Week October 2005 - Attempt at a closed reduction and external fixation with splint and traction. Doesn't work, the break is too unstable.
October 7th 2005 - 1st Surgery, takes about 3 hours, first two attempts to pin the hand fail and only third attempt with 2 pins is successful.
Rest of October - Weekly checks at the Ortho Hospital. Head of one of the pins comes off and it is driven further into the hand, causing extreme pain. Post surgical splint removed and full cast applied with traction under local anaesthetic. Pins due to be removed mid November.
Week before pin removal - A slip with a screen wash container twists pins and dislodges them. Rush over to Orthopedic Hospital. Emergency surgery booked for the next morning. On the way home, tyre blows out on Interstate, no one will stop to help so Craig attempts to change it yelling in agony!!!
Eventually a really nice guy stops to help us. Emergency pain meds prescription collected from Walgreens.Nov. 3rd - 2nd Surgery. Unable to remove of the the pins as they hoped so had to cut whole palm open to find it. It had moved so much!! Back in post surgical splint for 2 weeks, hardly able to move arm, let alone hand.
Late Nov. - Now in a removable splint, but must be worn 24 hours a day apart from when taking a shower. Physical therapy scheduled 3 times a week for one month, and hand is permenatly deformed and unlikely to ever regain full use.
Well, by this point we should have been heading back to England, but it looked like that was going to prove impossible. My poor husband was still not really able to do much without me helping. It's amazing how not being able to use your dominant hand really disables you. So we make an INFOPASS appointment and they say that we can go ahead and file AOS package. My AOS timeline is in my signature.
December - more set backs and another surgery, this time on the arm.
January- March 2006 - Very slow progress and still having bi weekly physio. Oh yeah and the guy who did this pleaded NOT GUILTY so the CPS are flying us over in April for the trial, they are paying for our hotel too.
So that is where we are right now. About $15,000 of surgery, months of pain and one deformed hand later!!
Our journey so far has been a real struggle, but I love my husband more than anything and am glad to be with him. We'd still like to live in England, but know for now that is not possible, perhaps in a few years time and when we've saved up some more money!!!!
If you've read all this waffle, then you're a star!!
. Finding VJ has made a real difference to us and helped us many times. So Thank You All.Kate
What a wonderful heartwarming story, yet mingled with such a nasty circumstance with the attack on Craig. I hope that nasty SOB that attacked him gets a hefty jail term 
Am glad you found VJ. Here's an official 'Welcome Aboard'. All the very best to you and Craig for your future together.
Thank you for sharing
