The The fiancé of a former British soldier who died in a car accident in Ukraine after traveling to the country to help fight against Russia says she had a wedding ring made the day she learned of his death.
Louise Lathbury’s partner Julian Thorn, 36, of Hexham, Northumberland, died in the clash in Ukraine earlier this month after traveling to the war-torn country last February to help train Kiev’s troops amid the invasion from Vladimir Putin.
Ms Lathbury said she was designing their rings at a local workshop for their impending nuptials earlier that day when she was informed of his passing on May 21.
His heartbroken fiancée now faces a substantial bill to repatriate his body to the UK. Ms Lathbury has set up a GoFundMe page to raise £15,000 to recover Julian’s body from the war-torn country.
Ms Lathbury, originally from Berkshire, said Mr Thorn’s mother and grandfather were also desperate to bring him back to the UK, saying it “would mean everything to bring him back in one piece”.
Louise Lathbury’s (left) partner Julian Thorn (right), 36, from Hexham, Northumberland, died ‘instantaneously’ in a car crash in Ukraine earlier this month. She was notified of his death on May 21
Julian Thorn, 36, (pictured in Ukraine) of Hexham, Northumberland, died in the Ukraine clash and his heartbroken fiancée now faces a £10,000 bill to repatriate his body to the UK
LOise Lathbury said his death has left “an emptiness in my heart that can never be filled,” as she launched a fundraiser to return his body.
She said he died “immediately” in the crash, which was confirmed by a colleague in Ukraine and the foreign ministry.
The British sniper, also known as Jay, had done humanitarian work helping refugees on the Ukraine-Poland border and training locals in military equipment shipped over from the UK.
The 36-year-old, who served in the Fusiliers and did tours of Afghanistan before meeting Ms Lathbury, had traveled to Ukraine because it was “something he felt strongly about and wanted to share the skills he had”.
Speaking of what it would mean to bring him back to Northumberland, Mrs Lathbury said: ‘It would mean everything, because we must bring him back in one piece.
“He needs to come back and he needs to be himself so we can do what’s best for him when we bring him home.”
“I want him to have a nice goodbye and be what he loved – he loved Hadrian’s Wall and he loved Northumberland and I just want him to come back and be in the place he loved so much.”
Ms Lathbury was told her partner had died on May 21, the day she made a wedding ring.
Julian Thorn, 36, flew to Ukraine to help fight Russian forces. He was killed in a car crash in the country earlier this month
The British sniper, known to his friends and family as Jay, had traveled to Ukraine in February last year to help train Ukrainian troops during Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
She said, “Honestly, I didn’t believe it was real and asked, ‘Are you sure it’s him? Are you sure it’s him?’
“But the other thing is we were talking about the wedding and stuff and I had his wedding ring made that Sunday — and then you think, Did I challenge fate by making it?”
‘Yeah, that’s the kind of stupid thing you think when it happens.
“I was devastated – it was a surprise and I would give it to him when he came back.”
Mrs Lathbury, who had been with Mr Thorn for four years, said she was devastated by his death and that it had ‘left a void in my heart’.
She said any money left over from the GoFundMe campaign would be donated to another family trying to repatriate a loved one’s body and to an animal charity.
Ms Lathbury added: ‘The problem with Jay is I don’t think it was just the situation in Ukraine – if he could help, he wanted to help, whatever it was.
“He loved animals — we have rescue animals everywhere because he just wanted to help.”
Thorn’s partner Louise Lathbury said his death has left “a void in my heart that can never be filled” as she launched a fundraiser to return his body. In the photo: Julian Thorn
Louise has now set up a GoFundMe page as she and Thorn’s family want to raise £15,000 to bring the ex-soldier’s body home
Thorn, who previously ran a pub in the village of Allendale, spent eight years in the army before traveling to Ukraine in February last year to aid troops there.
Louise told the ChronicleLiveHe was hard on the outside and soft on the inside. He had that outside of being tough and he was tough, but inside he was a big softy. He just wanted to do something good.
‘He went back and forth [to Ukraine] since the beginning of the war,’ said Louise. “He did a little bit of everything there. He trained a lot of soldiers because he is ex-military and he supported different units.
“He felt he had skills that could be used there. It was something he felt he had to do.”
Louise and Thorn, who met in a pub in Reading in 2019, said they kept in touch through a secure messaging app when he was in Ukraine.
“We texted every day and called as often as we could,” she said. “I worried about him all the time.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing support to the family of a British man following his death in Ukraine and are in contact with local authorities.”