BEING dumped and left heartbroken by one young Egyptian man wasn’t enough to deter Joanna Girling from finding love with another – and this time she’s adamant it will last.
Joanna, 49, insists her love for Hysm Fygo, 41, is stronger than ever – and says the feeling is mutual – despite the couple facing disapproval from family and tackling hurdles to be together.
The former Tesco worker says she and Hysm have proved their love is real and is so certain of their future, Joanna, who turns 50 next year, hasn’t given up hope of the pair having a baby together.
“Our love is real – and it will last forever,” Joanna insists.
“We’ve proved all the doubters wrong and each setback we face just brings us closer than before.
“My family won’t speak to me. But I have all Hysm’s family, and they love me, so that’s the main thing. If people can’t be happy for us then we can do without them.”
Joanna left her British husband after meeting her first boyfriend Hassan Kahlied on holiday in Egypt in 2018.
She confesses that she’d sneak off to meet up with the waiter while her husband slept in their hotel – and she later broke off her marriage when they returned to the UK in the July.
She says: “Our marriage had been on the rocks for a long time. We both knew it was over.”
She soon flew back to Egypt to be with her lover, but Hassan – who is in his 20s – later dumped her after spending all her money.
Joanna says: “Hassan was texting me saying he loved me and missed me so I went out to Egypt to meet him – but after a month money ran out. He made me buy him aftershave and cognac and all sorts of designer clothes.
“He told me to go back to England to carry on working, but on my journey back he said I was fat and ugly and not to message him anymore. I got the message at the airport, and I was heartbroken. I had to borrow money from a friend to get me home.”
Joanna, from Kings Lynn, Norfolk, stayed with her brother in the UK and returned to her old supermarket job. But she found she missed Egypt and, when a previously booked flight came around in May 2019, she made a life-changing decision.
She says: “I wasn’t happy in the UK and so I decided to move out to Egypt to begin a new life. I absolutely was not looking for love. I just needed a new start.”
Joanna got a job as a nursery teacher in Hurghada, Egypt, and settled down to life there.
One evening, she met up with a female friend and they visited a herbs and spice shop, belonging to Hysm.
She says: “He invited us into his shop for a drink, which is customary there, everyone is very polite and hospitable. But I could feel a spark with Hysm. I was wary of getting involved, especially after what I’d been through, but I felt he was different. We just clicked.”
After her friend returned home, Joanna and Hysm shared a taxi ride back to her apartment – and from there, they were never apart.
But Joanna says that after her heartbreak with Hassan she struggled to trust Hysm at the beginning of their relationship.
She says: “I kept pushing him away as I’d lost trust in men because of what happened in the past, it was still in the back of my mind.”
ROMANCE fraud expert Lisa Mills from the charity Victim Support reveals the four signs of a con artist to Nikki Watkins.
EARLY DECLARATIONS OF LOVE
EARLY and dramatic declarations of love are a common tactic employed by fraudsters to build trust and trick you into developing strong feelings for them.
Once you’re under their spell they will try to manipulate you into giving them money or personal information.
KEEPING YOUR ROMANCE UNDER WRAPS
BE extremely wary of anyone asking you to keep your relationship a secret. They may want to isolate you from your family to make you more vulnerable.
ASKING TO SEE YOUR DRIVING LICENCE
NEVER hand over sensitive information or copies of key documents such as your driving licence and passport. They may be duplicating them to obtain credit.
USING AI TO TRICK YOU
MORE and more fraudsters are using AI to trick you into believing they’re a real person.
If their voice sounds distorted or their eyes and mouth seem to be moving in an unnatural way while on a video call it could be a sign that the person you’re speaking to isn’t real.
“Hysm was so patient and kind. He kept coming back saying you need to trust me, I want to be with you – in the end I gave up pushing him away because I knew there was something there, but I was still scared.
“I let him in and said to myself, ‘I have to try and trust him’.”
Now, they’ve been together for five years and, after Hysm proposed, the pair are planning their wedding. But it’s proved to be a challenge.
“To get married, there is so much paperwork involved from the British Embassy. We have to go to Cairo, which is expensive. I need to leave the country too, to update my visa.
“We are saving up, but we’ve had a lot of setbacks. Hysm lost his shop and is currently working out of town at another shop. I work full time teaching English privately.
“We don’t get to spend much time together but when we do, it’s very precious. We might go for dinner or enjoy a day at the beach.”
The couple have adopted three dogs, Billy, Coffee and Capri.
“We adore our three dogs, our little family is so happy,” says Joanna.
“It’s our dream to save enough to buy another shop, and to get married.
“We’d even like a baby, even though it’s probably too late now.”
