{"id":20148,"date":"2025-08-24T11:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T11:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/20148\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T11:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T11:57:10","slug":"my-husband-died-horrifically-on-our-honeymoon-our-popular-destination-seemed-idyllic-but-it-was-secretly-deadly-zoe-holohan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/20148\/","title":{"rendered":"My husband died horrifically on our honeymoon. Our popular destination seemed idyllic, but it was secretly deadly: ZOE HOLOHAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zoe Holohan should have been able to cherish the memories of her wedding day for the rest of her life. Instead, they\u2019ve become among the most painful she can recall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018The day I married Brian was perfect,\u2019 she explains. \u2018And that makes it almost unbearable to look back on now. It was the happiest I\u2019d ever been. How am I supposed to reconcile that with what came next?\u2019<\/p>\n

What came next was truly the stuff of nightmares. Two days after taking their vows in the walled garden of a stunning country manor, Zoe and Brian flew to Mati, Greece<\/a>, for their honeymoon.<\/p>\n

A sleepy seaside town on the mainland coast, Zoe had chosen Mati for its calm, idyllic beauty. But on their second day there, unknown to them, wildfires broke out in the area. There were no warnings from the authorities and no alarms were sounded, so they were completely oblivious as the fire spread rapidly.<\/p>\n

By the afternoon the blaze had reached their villa, forcing them to flee through flames and thick smoke towards the sea in the hope that, there, they\u2019d finally be safe. Their desperate efforts were stymied after being met by a wall of fire, yet the newlyweds thought they had finally found salvation when a passing car picked them up \u2013 only for a falling tree to cause the vehicle to be engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n

Tragically, Brian, 46, was killed before Zoe\u2019s eyes in what would become known as one of the deadliest wildfires Europe has ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was the most unimaginably awful experience,\u2019 says Zoe, now 52, a former marketing executive and journalist, who, seven years on, has become a burns awareness advocate. \u2018Not only do I miss Brian dreadfully, I still feel guilty for choosing Mati. I\u2019ll always live with both those terrible memories and an awful sense of \u201cwhat if?\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

Zoe met Brian O\u2019Callaghan-Westropp, a charity and catering worker, in October 2014, after connecting on a dating site. \u2018He was such a handsome guy with the most beautiful twinkling blue eyes,\u2019 she says. \u2018We\u2019d both been married before and neither of us had children.<\/p>\n

\"Tragically <\/p>\n

Tragically Zoe Holohan’s husband was killed before her eyes in what would become known as one of the deadliest wildfires Europe has ever seen<\/p>\n

\u2018Unlike some of my recent dates, Brian had only nice things to say about his ex-wife, which I really liked. I felt I could trust him.\u2019<\/p>\n

Coffee turned into lunch, which turned into dinner, all in the same cafe. \u2018Brian exuded warmth and kindness; I had this overwhelming sense of being in the presence of someone good. He was funny too.\u2019<\/p>\n

When the staff said they were closing, they headed to a nearby bar, finally kissing at the end of the night.<\/p>\n

\u2018I decided that from that day on I only ever wanted to be kissed by Brian,\u2019 says Zoe. \u2018I\u2019d met my soulmate. We moved in together after a couple of months.\u2019<\/p>\n

They married four years later at Clonabreany House in County Meath. \u2018I cried tears of absolute joy through my vows. Stupidly, I assumed the joy would never end.\u2019<\/p>\n

They headed to Greece two days later. On July 23, 2018, they spent the morning by the villa pool, giggling as they updated their Facebook profiles to \u2018married\u2019.<\/p>\n

Later, they moved inside, where they made love. \u2018The last time we would ever do so,\u2019 says Zoe. \u2018Afterwards, I fell into a deep sleep.\u2019<\/p>\n

She was woken an hour later by Brian urgently calling her name. She ran downstairs to find him frozen at the patio doors, the garden fence already ablaze.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The couple married at Clonabreany House in County Meath and headed to Greece for their honeymoon two days later<\/p>\n

Zoe ran upstairs to dress, grabbing a long, white embroidered dress thinking the heavy cotton might protect her legs. They then ran to their hired car on the driveway, only to discover the villa\u2019s electric gates had locked due to a power cut, trapping them inside. The only way out was to scale the 9ft gate.<\/p>\n

Zoe dislocated her knee on landing. \u2018I had to ignore the pain,\u2019 she says. \u2018From that moment onwards, we were running for our lives.<\/p>\n

\u2018I remember turning to Brian and begging him to tell me we were going to survive. He promised we would.\u2019<\/p>\n

Just a few hundred metres on, they ran into another curtain of fire. They turned back but the sky had turned black and they were choking on smoke, while burning debris from trees rained down. They had no idea where they were heading.<\/p>\n

A small group of holidaymakers suddenly appeared through the smoke, shouting that the road ahead was certain death, before vanishing again. \u2018You can\u2019t describe that level of fear,\u2019 says Zoe.<\/p>\n

Her dress caught alight from the burning foliage falling around them. \u2018I screamed and Brian put out the flames with his bare hands. My legs were badly singed \u2013 his hands must have been burned too. But we couldn\u2019t stop.\u2019<\/p>\n

Back on the road, the smoke parted just long enough to reveal a group of four or five terrified children. \u2018They looked so small, so lost and we couldn\u2019t see any adults,\u2019 recalls Zoe.<\/p>\n

Suddenly a car appeared, driven by an elderly man with two passengers. Brian and Zoe shoved the children into the vehicle, before realising there was no room left for them. \u2018I shouted for the boot to be opened,\u2019 says Zoe. They climbed in, curling their bodies to fit, and held the lid half-shut with their hands as the car sped off, flames chasing them.<\/p>\n

\"Zoe\u00a0sustained <\/p>\n

Zoe\u00a0sustained third and fourth degree burns across more than half her body, including her face, chest, arms, legs and back<\/p>\n

\u2018It was like being inside an oven,\u2019 she says. \u2018My hand had melted onto the metal. The pain was unimaginable. It felt like my face was dissolving. Brian tried to smother the flames with his hands. He kept saying something, under his breath. Maybe he was praying. I couldn\u2019t hear.\u2019<\/p>\n

Suddenly, they hit a burning tree, which collapsed on top of the car and into the now wide-open boot. \u2018My poor darling husband got the brunt of it,\u2019 says Zoe. \u2018His clothes burst into flames and he rolled out of the boot, screaming, on to the road.<\/p>\n

\u2018I tried to grab him, tried to pull him back into the boot, but he rolled out of the car too quickly and much too far from my grasp. There, right in front of me, he was engulfed in fire.<\/p>\n

\u2018The last word he screamed out, a long, agonised scream of sheer terror, was: \u201cWhy?\u201d \u2018And then he was gone. He vanished before my eyes, into thick black smoke.\u2019<\/p>\n

Distraught and badly injured, with no idea what had happened to the rest of the passengers, Zoe decided to surrender to the heat. \u2018I was in agony and it felt like it was over for me too. I believed this was my final moment. With the only breath I had left, I called out for Brian. I couldn\u2019t see him, couldn\u2019t hear him, but I kept on calling his name from the boot of that car.\u2019<\/p>\n

Those desperate cries almost certainly saved Zoe. Moments later a firefighter heard her, reached into the boot and pulled her out. \u2018Had he arrived seconds later, I\u2019d have died,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

He scooped her into his arms and ran through flaming trees, shielding her face, until they reached safety.<\/p>\n

\u2018Brian had been so close to making it,\u2019 says Zoe. \u2018I begged the firefighter to turn back and help me find him. He kept speaking to me in Greek; I didn\u2019t understand but it was clear he was saying there was no way back. Deep down I must have known it was impossible; that Brian was already lost to me. But I kept begging, just in case I\u2019d got it wrong.\u2019<\/p>\n

Zoe was taken to the safety of the beach and drifted into unconsciousness. She had sustained third and fourth degree burns across more than half her body, including her face, chest, arms, legs and back.<\/p>\n

In hospital in Athens the day after the fire, Zoe somehow convinced herself she\u2019d imagined watching Brian die. \u2018I let myself conjure up a new, wonderful reality where Brian was alive and recuperating in some other ward.\u2019<\/p>\n

But her older brother, John, who\u2019d recently arrived in Greece, had been taken to the morgue to identify Brian\u2019s body. \u2018When he came to tell me that night, I shut down, unable to speak. It wasn\u2019t merely the thought of Brian lying in the mortuary, it was the manner in which he died and the fact that I was still alive. I tried instead to think of Brian as he was that last morning, splashing around in the pool, laughing and gossiping about the wedding.\u2019<\/p>\n

This image became Zoe\u2019s safe place to mentally retreat to. But at night, she suffered agonising nightmares: \u2018Most harrowing was the sight of my husband, reaching out, begging me to hold his hand. He would die before me, over and over.\u2019<\/p>\n

And then there was the physical recovery. Zoe endured skin-grafting surgeries every two to three days, focusing on her face, chest, arms, hand and legs. During that time, family and friends made sure that Zoe always had someone at her bedside.<\/p>\n

But as if she hadn\u2019t endured enough, three weeks after losing Brian, Zoe\u2019s father Colm died of a heart attack. He\u2019d been ill for some time and hadn\u2019t been able to fly out to see her. Still in intensive care, she couldn\u2019t attend his funeral. \u2018Brian\u2019s best friend had to break that awful news,\u2019 says Zoe. \u2018My dad was so ill and I think it was all just too much for his heart to bear.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, details of the extent of the wildfire in Mati emerged; firefighters and volunteers had battled the blaze all day, throughout the night and into the next day with it only declared \u2018under control\u2019 two days later.<\/p>\n

Flare-ups and body recovery efforts continued for weeks, with an official death toll of 104 people, making it the deadliest wildfire in Greek history.<\/p>\n

Five weeks later, Zoe was transferred to Dublin\u2019s St James\u2019s Hospital, where she began to learn to walk and talk \u2013 her windpipe having been damaged \u2013 again. \u2018Learning to walk was agony,\u2019 she says. \u2018But I\u2019m stubborn. I wanted to do it for Brian, so I\u2019d be able to walk when we eventually held a memorial service.\u2019<\/p>\n

Zoe was well enough to return home four months later, an experience she found crushing. \u2018Photos of us seemed to mock my broken heart. The calendar still showed our wedding day, circled in red \u2013 but no entries after that. It was as if time had stopped.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, her treatment continued: \u2018When I started talking about not wanting to be here any more, the hospital got me into therapy really quickly, which is what saved me.\u2019<\/p>\n

Since then, despite all she has lost, Zoe has managed to keep her life moving forwards.<\/p>\n

In 2021, she published the bestselling As The Smoke Clears, an unflinching memoir that charts much of that journey.<\/p>\n

Today, she speaks in schools and burns units and is an ambassador for St James\u2019s. Last month, she walked the Dublin Women\u2019s Mini Marathon with 50 members of the team who treated her. Across her chest, inked over the scars, is a dragon tattoo. \u2018My warrior stamp,\u2019 she says. \u2018There\u2019s a warrior in all of us. We just don\u2019t meet them until we have to.\u2019<\/p>\n

There are still triggers that take her back to that terrible day. Hearing about the wildfires currently raging in Europe is difficult. But sometimes it\u2019s something as small as seeing a packet of her husband\u2019s favourite biscuits in the supermarket.<\/p>\n

\u2018I automatically go to put some in my trolley for Brian. And then it hits me: he\u2019s gone. I break down on the spot.\u2019<\/p>\n

For a long time she blamed herself for choosing Greece for their honeymoon, but through years of therapy she says she \u2018came to understand I\u2019m not God. I didn\u2019t cause this. It was horrific luck\u2019.<\/p>\n

Last month, Zoe joined Brian\u2019s family and friends in honouring her husband on the seventh anniversary of his death. \u2018In the early days, especially on my wedding anniversary on July 19, I\u2019d just hide under the duvet. My phone was switched off. But over time I\u2019ve learnt to see those dates differently. Now I view them as a chance to celebrate Brian\u2019s life.\u2019<\/p>\n

She is now six months into a new relationship. \u2018We clicked immediately,\u2019 she says. \u2018What made the difference was that he told me straight away: \u201cYou can talk about whatever you want. I\u2019m really sorry about what you\u2019ve been through.\u201d He\u2019s made me feel more comfortable in my own skin than I ever thought possible.<\/p>\n

\u2018And I know that\u2019s exactly what Brian would want for me now.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zoe Holohan should have been able to cherish the memories of her wedding day for the rest of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[118,18,117,2930,12364,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-20148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-femail","12":"tag-greece","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}