'I will bring them home': A son's determination after losing his parents in the Air India Crash
Ashok Patel, 74, and Shobhana Patel, 71, have lived in Greater London since the 80s. Ashok was a financial advisor, while Shobahana a microbiologist.
The pair travelled to India for a religious trip known as a Yatra which helps people find peace when they eventually pass away.
Unfortunately, just days later, they were among 53 British nationals that died in a fatal plane crash in Ahmedabad, West India just minutes after take off.
It is still uncertain when the pair will be returned to London though the process to identify them was quick.
Their son, Miten, went to India and describes the process as a "miracle".
He added "it's a result of meticulous and efficient planning" which meant he had to put his grief to the side to focus on fulfilling his parents' wishes.
"I haven't come to terms with it. My main priority was the promise I made my parents to bring them home," he says.
He is one of dozens of British family members who have flown to Ahmedabad to identify and bring their loved ones back.
"It is not an easy process when there are so many people that have gone through this tragedy," he tells ITV News London.
Despite how difficult the last seven days have been, Miten praises his family and the wider community for all their kindness and support in the process.
It all began, when Miten received a phone call from his father's friend who was in India.
"I couldn't believe it," he says.
"I was with him on Father's Day, I held him...that's the first time in this whole ordeal I cried because I felt like I was actually hugging my dad."
Miten contacted insurance companies, collected dental records and DNA samples to take to India in order to support the identification process.
He says it was fate that his mother was identified just four hours after his father was, and added: "It felt like my mum was saying to my dad, stay where you are, you're not going alone, I'm coming with you."
In India, he was shown items that belonged to his parents that were found among the wreckage, from the label of his father's beloved Stafford shirt to his mother swan-pendant necklace that Miten's young daughter Amira will now inherit.
"My mum used to say one day you will have that. It just feels like she's left that necklace for her," he says.
Once his parents are back in the UK, Miten aims to hold a funeral service for them both together.
"They have made it this far together so I would like to send them off together," he says.
While Miten's dad Ashok was born in India and his family have ethnic roots to the country, India was an 'unknown country' for Miten who grew up in the UK.
"I'm just glad I was able to fulfil my promise that I made to my parents and my family that I will make sure that they come home because the UK is their home."
"They've been here for over 40 years."
Miten says his parents finally being cremated will start off a more personal mourning process for him that he has been delaying.
"Once I get them home and we give them a good send off then I'll grieve in my own time, but at the moment I've just got to stay strong for them," he says.
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Sunday Post
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The Scottish monk who helped in the fight against Napoleon
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up He was described as a 'short, stout, merry little monk' who was always jesting and poking fun, but James Robertson was truly extraordinary. In 1808, as Napoleon neared the peak of his power, it was this middle-aged and overweight Scottish monk to whom the British government turned for a special mission. The unlikely secret agent's task? Travel to Germany to persuade a Spanish general and his troops to betray the French emperor and switch sides. It may sound like something straight out of a war novel, but this is a true story that author Roger Hunt stumbled on and has been enthralled by for nearly 30 years. Robertson was born in 1758 but spent much of his life at a monastery in Regensberg, Germany, at the time known as Ratisbon. © Supplied While reading a biography of the Duke of Wellington, Roger found references to a meeting between the monk and a pre-dukedom Arthur Wellesley in London in the spring of 1808. Robertson was, at that point, a tutor to an aristocratic family in England, and noted that he was willing to aid the British government's struggles against Napoleon. 'I was thinking, what on Earth is a Scottish Benedictine monk whose parents were almost certainly Jacobites doing going on a spying mission for the British Government?' Roger said. 'It was completely bizarre. 'I started digging and in the British Library is a copy of Robertson's memoir, written by his nephew, about his mission to extricate the Spanish Division, commanded by Pedro Caro, Marquis of La Romana. 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'It doesn't say a lot, but again it was helpful in proving that a) he existed and b) what I'd read was reasonably true, hence the determination that the novel would be based as close as I could on true events.' With so many extra pieces of information jumping out to Roger throughout his research, the job isn't yet complete and he hopes to write a prequel to Vindicta telling of Robertson's early life. 'I enjoyed the writing process,' he said. 'I discovered that Robertson actually taught German to Lord Palmerston, later the British Prime Minister. 'The research never finishes. You think you've learned all you can, and that's not the case at all. 'Before he was sent on this mission, Robertson was in Ireland teaching French at Maynooth University, so that will form some idea as to a prequel. 'He's an absolutely amazing character and the story is quite extraordinary. A very, very brave Scotsman.' Vindicta by Roger Hunt is available now from Troubador Publishing
The Herald Scotland
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Oyster po' boy
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