Self-isolating Bradford couple recreate cancelled holiday in back garden

Buttershaw's Brigid-Mary and Richard Oates were due to fly out to the island on Thursday but it became one of the last places to shut down travel over coronavirus.

The pair had experienced months of bad news and hoped the trip would bring a smile back to their faces.

As it turns out, they didn't have to go very far as the couple got their swimwear on, popped open a bottle of booze and splashed around in their grandchildren's paddling pool.

The videos later went viral and brought a smile to people's faces across the district and beyond.

Brigid-Mary told the Telegraph & Argus: "We've had an awful 12 months. We lost our nephew, my brother died, my father in law died. My husband just recently had an MRI scan which showed a growth. We really needed this holiday but we decided to have some fun at home.

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"It wasn't a full day but actually it was quite a sunny day so we were lucky.

"We were dancing round the garden.

"On Sunday, it's not just Mother's Day it's also my husband's birthday. On the Sunday we wanted to go whale watching. In the video there's him dancing with a blow up shark but that's the best we could do!

"We've had so much feedback.

The couple, who are now self-isolating as vulnerable people, have also fitted in an adventure around Ilkley Moor and a cup of tea with their son, who was standing at a safe distance from his parents in the drive way.

"We spend lots of time with them and not seeing them is really difficult. We lent him our car and he stood on the drive way," she said.

While Brigid-Mary knows these are worrying times for everyone, she hopes her silly videos will bring a smile to just one person's face.

And for as long as their holiday lasts, the couple will be filming their fun days for everyone to see.

She added: "I would say this is a really serious time and it's ok to be sad. It's like a sense of mourning as we're having to change our life completely.

"We can't do the things we want to but we can, at the moment, get out and access fresh air."

Train driver Richard and Brigid-Mary, a specialist therapeutic worker, said the videos have been a hit with their colleagues.

In a positive message, he said: "It's really difficult for some people. It's a serious situation. It's a case of taking the best of what we've got and if it can make someone's day that's great."