Partner of heroic firefighter Ewan Williamson says Zumba got her smiling again

Yet just 18 months ago the petite dancer's world was shattered when the love of her life, Lothian and Borders firefighter Ewan Williamson, was killed while battling a ferocious blaze at a city bar.

The couple had been together for five years, planned to marry and had talked about starting a family together. All that changed on July 12, 2009, when Ewan was part of the crew which answered the 999 call-out to the Balmoral Bar in Dalry Road.

Lynsey had seen him off to work with two kisses and a warning to be careful cycling on the roads, but 12 hours later she was standing beside his body in hospital after being woken to be told he had been killed on duty.

The hero firefighter, right, who was just 35, had become trapped after a floor collapsed shortly after he and his Green Watch colleagues had helped rescue more than 20 people from the flats above the burning bar.

He was the first Scottish firefighter in living memory to die while fighting a fire - a police inquiry into his death is still ongoing and a fatal accident inquiry is yet to be held - and, on the day of his funeral, thousands of people lined the streets of Edinburgh in the pouring rain to pay their respects.

More than 3000 people have signed an Evening News petition calling for him to be awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

But while the world continued to turn, for Lynsey the days, weeks and months that followed Ewan's death saw her struggle to find the strength to get out of bed.

"Losing Ewan is something I will never get over. He is still the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about before falling asleep," says the 29-year-old. "But I know I can't sit around being sad all the time.

"If anything, what happened to Ewan has made me realise how important it is that you don't let life pass you by. My new philosophy for life is make every day about being the best you can be, and being happy and healthy.

"Ewan wouldn't want the people he loved to waste their lives being consumed with grief. He would want us to get up and get going."

So a year-and-a-half on from that fateful day, Lynsey, a professional dancer and fully qualified fitness instructor, has done just that.

She has ditched her work in a travel agency to set up her own exercise business and is now running a number of Zumba fitness and Pilates classes across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife.

While she admits she will never get over the heartache of losing the man she loved, she says she has finally found the strength to start living her own life again.

When Lynsey met handsome 6ft 4ins firefighter Ewan she was working as a professional dancer on a luxury cruise liner. Having graduated with diplomas in dancing and fitness from Telford College she moved to London before getting a "dream job" dancing aboard a ship that stopped at ports in some of the most exotic places in the world.

But she gave up her glamorous career for the sake of love, so she could spend more time with Ewan and set up home in Edinburgh.

Lynsey says: "I did miss working as a dancer as I really loved dancing, but I loved Ewan more and didn't want to be halfway across the world from him.

"When he died I really felt like a huge part of me died too, along with all the hopes and plans we had for our life together."

Looking back, Lynsey believes it was her love of fitness, dancing and exercise that has helped her piece her shattered life together.

She says: "All the health experts say that fitness and exercise are great releases for stress and for helping you re-energise your body and mind. I never had reason to test that before, but in the months after losing Ewan it was actually when I was out running or doing another kind of fitness where I felt at my best. It really did give me an escape from everything else that was going on around me. It helped clear my head and gave me the energy to cope with the rest of the day."

As time went on, Lynsey enrolled in a number of fitness classes and discovered Colombian dance craze Zumba.

The class seem to perfectly combine Lynsey's love of dance and fitness and, after falling in love with its upbeat pace, she enrolled as an instructor.

Now she is spreading what she says is the "joy of Zumba" by running classes across the area.

"There is something about doing Zumba that just makes you smile," she says. "They say that when you join a Zumba class you ‘join the party' and that is really how it feels.

"You don't have to be a great dancer or aerobics expert. It can suit almost everyone and I'm living proof of how good it can make you feel.

"I really believe that Zumba has helped me put the smile back on my face and given me the boost of energy that was sucked out of my life after Ewan died."

Lynsey is organising a sponsored "Zumbathon" to raise money in memory of Ewan for the Fire Fighters Charity, which will be held at Meadowbank Stadium on April 16 this year between noon and 4pm.

"Plans for the Zumbathon are still at an early stage, but I'm hoping as many people as possible will lend their support and come along," says Lynsey. "My aim is that it will not only raise hundreds of pounds for the charity, but it will also introduce people to the joy of Zumba."

She adds: "I think Ewan would be pretty happy to see what I'm doing and proud of me, too."

n To join one of Lynsey's fitness classes or for details of the Zumbathon on April 16, visit www.zumba-fitness-edinburgh.co.uk

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