Angela Glover was described by her brother as “beautiful” and a “ray of sunshine, and a person who loved people and loved animals.
A British woman who was devoted to animal welfare was swept away by a massive wave when a tsunami hit the South Pacific island of Tonga as she was trying to rescue her dogs, a family member said.
Angela Glover, 50, had disappeared on Saturday afternoon after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano hit followed by a tsunami, which saw 1.2-meter waves.
Glover's brother, Nick Eleini told The Guardian that this sister was swept away from the beach along with her husband, James, and four or five of the couple’s dogs by the tsunami.
“Angela and her husband, James, got washed away. James was able to cling on to a tree for quite a long time, but Angela was unable to do so and was washed away with the dogs, I think four or five dogs," Eleini said.
He said his sister and James were housesitting a house on the west coast of the island before the catastrophe.
"James went back to their proper house on the south coast of the island, but Angela didn’t turn up. James contacted the police and the British embassy there, where he was able to notify us of what happened," Glover's brother said.
Her body was recovered after Glover’s husband, organized a search.
Eleini said the family is “shocked” by the unexpected loss, the BBC reported.
"Angela was the heart of our family, she was the emotional heart of our family," he said. "I will miss her and I will think of her every day until the day I die. My mother is just broken at the moment, she is just absolutely shattered."
He described his sister as “beautiful” and a “ray of sunshine.” A person who “loved people,” and “loved animals.”
“Angela and James loved their life in Tonga and adored the Tongan people, in particular the Tongan love of family and the Tongan culture,” Eleini said.
Angela, who hails from Brighton in the United Kingdom, had moved to Tonga when she got married in 2015. Her husband opened up a tattoo parlor and she founded the charity TAWS — Tonga Animal Welfare Society, Glover’s brother said.
Eleini spoke of his sister's devotion to the animals and explained that she would rehabilitate them. He said, "the uglier the dog the more she loved it."
Before moving to Tonga, Eleini said Glover worked in London in the advertising industry. She moved to the island in 2015 after she got married. He said she was “well-loved by the locals and ex-pats alike."
“She loved her life there,” Eleini said.
Since the tsunami, the devastation has caused major damage to the undersea communications cable, the key to Tonga’s communications network, which has made it nearly impossible for families to reach out to their loved ones, The Guardian reported.
Glover was the only casualty confirmed at this time, BBC reported.
