'I held Teresa in my arms and watched her die after climbing fall'

Simon Williamson watched in horror as Teresa Conalty, whom he described as his "soul mate", fell from Coire Cas into a gully.

Despite fierce weather on the day of the accident, 31 January, Mr Williamson, 32, said the couple were having "the time of our lives" ascending the mountain. However, strong winds caused Ms Conalty to lose her footing on the icy rockface, as Mr Williamson watched.

"A strong gust came along seconds before Teresa was blown off and we hunkered down to let it pass," he said.

"I turned to my right and she was still there, but a second gust blew over again and it was the strongest so far. I had to kick into the ice to keep my balance. I was so close to the ridge that my nose ground down on the surface."

The lorry driver added: "As soon as it had blown over, I turned to look for Teresa and she was gone."

The couple met in May of last year, but bonded quickly over their shared love of mountain climbing. They had travelled as far afield as India, China and Sri Lanka, and had recently returned from a trip to Nepal when they arrived in Scotland to spend time with Mr Williamson's family in Renfrewshire.

After Ms Conalty's fall, he said, he scrambled to her and consoled her while a member of a mountain rescue team gave her oxygen.

"There was a mountain rescue team training just metres from where Teresa had landed, and one of them ran to her aid," Mr Williamson went on.

"Teresa was calling my name and I dashed to her side, she was begging me to let her sit up, but I was worried she may have broken her back," he said.

"I tried to make her as comfortable as possible, but I could see a huge swelling on the side of her head and I knew it wasn't looking good. I took her crampons off her shoes, so she wouldn't injure the emergency service workers, but she was quickly losing consciousness."

Ms Conalty, 40, a nurse from County Wicklow, in the Irish Republic, was taken down the mountain in the funicular railway and treated by a doctor at the base station, before she was flown by RAF helicopter to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where she was pronounced dead.

Mr Williamson, who lived with Ms Conalty in Lochwinnoch, said: "She never regained consciousness after I held her in my arms, and as painful as it is, I was glad she died in my arms when she did because I know she wasn't in any pain."

The couple were due to travel to Ireland to meet Ms Conalty's parents a few days after the accident. Mr Williamson, who had not yet met her family, called her mother, Rita, and her father, Eamon, to tell about her death, and from that moment on has had an unbreakable bond with them and is now staying with them. He added: "At first I thought I could get through it by myself, but the pain of losing Teresa was too much to bear.

"Her family and friends have invited me over and have made me feel like part of their family," he said. "Nothing will ever be able to ease my pain at losing Teresa, but being with her friends and family I feel I can celebrate her life and the short but wonderful time we spent together."

He added: "She was the love of my life, my soul mate, and I can't believe she's gone. I hoped she would pull through, but in my heart of hearts I knew she wasn't going to make it."

Ms Conalty's father said: "The outdoor life was for her; she was such a vivacious person. She loved climbing mountains.

"She was a jack of all trades, anything she did she came out on top."

PROFILE

TERESA Conalty was a trained paediatrics nurse with a love of the outdoor life.

Having climbed some of the world's most inhospitable peaks, she had found a partner who shared her passion.

Ms Conalty had previously spent four years working with under-privileged children in a Romanian orphanage.

She first arrived in the UK and worked as a nurse in Birmingham, before deciding to go travelling about two years ago. In the year prior to her accident, she had climbed mountains in locations including India, Nepal, and the Himalayas.