Grand gesture for Sheffield key worker couple after dream honeymoon is cancelled for second time

Rebecca Keen, 32, and Samuel Keen 32, from Sheffield, were due to travel on their dream honeymoon to Australia this year but, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, their flights were cancelled.

Unfortunately, this is the second time the couple have had to postpone their romantic getaway - their first honeymoon cancelled when Thomas Cook collapsed into liquidation.

Beki, an investigations officer with South Yorkshire Police, and Sam, a firefighter with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic and were once again left heartbroken.

Sam said: “We got married in October last year, we had a honeymoon booked and then unfortunately Thomas Cook collapsed, we left it a few months. We tried to save a bit more money and tried to do a trip of a lifetime and as we booked the second honeymoon, coronavirus struck so it’s not been fantastic!”

Explaining his work through the pandemic, Sam said many fire crews – both in Sheffield and across the country – have taken on other roles such as driving ambulances to help NHS staff.

After hearing their story, Capital Breakfast’s Roman Kemp decided to surprise the couple with a virtual honeymoon, sending out life-sized cardboard cut-outs of the pair to Australia.

The cardboard cut-outs visited some of Australia’s top tourist destinations including; Sydney Opera House, Summer Bay and Bondi Beach – all escorted by producer and tour guide Tom.

Back in the UK, the real Beki and Sam checked in on-air with their cardboard cut-outs and Tom to find out what they had been up to.

After a week of travelling to Australia’s top locations vicariously through their cardboard cut-outs, Capital Breakfast then surprised Beki and Sam on-air with vouchers to use for flights for their honeymoon in the future.

Sam said: “Oh wow! This is unbelievable! I’m a bit flabbergasted to be honest.”

“This has all been a bit of fun and that’s all we wanted to get out of it really so this is absolutely amazing!” Beki added.

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