The girlfriend of the Scots army officer who died running the London marathon has revealed he had asked her father for his permission to marry before going on a tour of Afghanistan.
Gaby Schoenenberger, 29, said that Captain David Seath had planned to propose to her but only after he had returned safely from his tour of duty later this year.
She found out about his intentions hours after he had died in hospital from a cardiac arrest. He had collapsed three miles from the finishing line in the race eight days ago.
She was in London to watch her 31-year-old boyfriend, from Cowdenbeath, Fife, run and raise funds for the Help For Heroes veterans’ charity.
In her first interview since his death, Ms Schoenenberger said: “I found out on Sunday night that David had asked my dad for his blessing at Easter when we were on a family holiday.
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“David was being posted to Afghanistan in July this year for seven months and he was intending on proposing when he got back — but he wanted to make sure, to check it with my dad.”
If anything had happened in Afghanistan, Captain Seath had wanted her father to tell her about the proposal, she said.
The news that the army was sending him to Afghanistan had “devastated” her but she said that he had reassured her that he would be safe. “He was just so positive and said, ‘You know we’ll look back on this in 30-40 years and think, yep, that was an awful time being apart but what we’ve got now’,” she said.
“That’s just David, he was such a gentleman. I would have said ‘yes’, in a moment
The couple had not discussed getting married. “I never wanted to freak him out by talking about marriage but it was obvious for us that we were heading that way,” she said. “It shows that, without me ever saying anything, he knew how important it would be to me that he ask my dad’s permission. That’s just David, he was such a gentleman. I would have said ‘yes’, in a moment.”
The couple met in 2014 when she was working in Edinburgh at the textile business she had founded.
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Captain Seath was in Plymouth as a fire support team commander with 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery. After being put in touch by a mutual friend, they started messaging and talking on the phone.
Ms Schoenenberger flew to Devon to see whether the officer was as charming in person. He was, and they started a relationship.
He had trained intensely for the marathon. “That’s what I don’t understand. He was so fit, he’d go out for just a casual 15-mile run and wouldn’t even be red in the face,” she said.
On the day of the race, Ms Schoenenberger waited at 25 miles by Embankment station where she could wave him on towards the finish. She stood with a friend, tracking his progress on an app.
“I was scanning the crowd. I didn’t want to miss him so I was just scanning constantly for ages and I kept looking at the app and we just thought it was being faulty. Then my phone rang and it was a nurse at the hospital and she said, ‘Have you heard from David Seath?’ — and my heart just fell.”
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The response to Captain Seath’s death has led to more than £100,000 being raised for Help For Heroes and Ms Schoenenberger and some of his friends plan to finish the race for him.
“The support has been amazing,” she said. “But it hasn’t shocked me actually . . . you couldn’t not love him when you met him.”
Donations are still being accepted at www.justgiving.com/ david-seath-london-marathon