Cave hero drowns in flash flood; 'One minute I was in what I thought was the most beautiful place in the world ... the next thing there is death all around me'.

Byline: By James Cartledge and Will Oliphant

A MIDLAND man was swept to his death after saving the life of his fiancee when flash floods gushed through a cave in Thailand.

John Cullen, aged 24, from Solihull, helped Helena Carroll on to a ledge and then decided to try to swim for help.

But brave John never made it to safety and died along with five other tourists and two Thai guides.

Helena, aged 21 and also from Solihull, was the only survivor of Saturday's tragedy at the Tham Nam Thalu caves in the Khao Sok national park.

She was rescued after 16 hours in the darkness clinging to the cave's ceiling.

"I cannot believe I am the only survivor," Helena said today. "I cannot believe my John is dead.

"One minute I was in what I thought was the most beautiful place in the world.

The next thing there is death all around me." John was said to work in the asbestos trade and Helena is a customer adviser for energy company npower.

He and Helena, of Pinfold Road, had been together for four years and met at primary school. They decided to go on their holiday of a lifetime instead of putting down a deposit on a house.

"Up until this it was a dream holiday in the most beautiful place I had ever been to," Helena said.

Heavy rainfall sparked the floods as the party explored the 500m deep cave at the national park in Surat Thani province, 400 miles south of Thailand's capital, Bangkok.

Thai police said the party were taken by surprise by the torrent of water as they did not know it was raining outside the cave.

There were reports that a tour group which came out of the cave warned Helena's group not to go in.

The province's governor, Winai Phopradit, said he had ordered the national park to close during the current rainy season.

"We have signs both in English and Thai warning tourists not to go into the cave during heavy rains," he said.

The couple had been keeping a travel blog of their journey around Thailand and had posted pictures of their trip of a lifetime on the internet.

Tigers still roam the Khao Sok national park. It is also home to kingfishers, hornbills and rare vegetation including the rafflesia and pitcher plants.

Only days before tragedy struck, John ominously wrote that he had been snorkelling and had experienced severe storms and rough seas.

As the couple arrived in Khao Sok John said that the couple were looking forward to the adventure.

A German boy aged ten and a Swiss couple and their two young daughters died along with John and the two local guides.

CAPTION(S):

BRAVE... John Cullen.; SURVIVOR... Helena Carroll is helped to safety after 16 hours.