The family who saved orphans from the Vietnam War

A family is marking the 50th year since a personal tragedy led to them adopting a baby from Vietnam.

RAF officer Mike Pritchard and his wife Jacquie - from Chalgrove in Oxfordshire - lost their baby son Steven to cot death while they were in Singapore in 1974.

In a tragic twist, Mrs Pritchard had been to hospital that same day for a sterilisation operation.

During the grief that followed they decided to do something positive. Knowing that the war in Vietnam had created many orphans, they made enquiries about adoption.

"A photograph was sent to us saying 'this is the baby you can have'," said Mrs Pritchard.

Mr Pritchard flew to Saigon to collect the boy, who they named Matthew.

"I held Matthew for the first time. His little eyes, I said 'you're the one for us'. Great, rubber stamped, done," explained Mr Pritchard.

But there was a snag. The paperwork would take six weeks, so Mr Pritchard had to fly back to Singapore without Matthew and wait.

Shortly afterwards, the couple heard news that a transport plane carrying orphan babies to America for safety had crashed with great loss of life.

They feared Matthew might have been on board.

Mr Pritchard flew back to Saigon and learned that Matthew was safe. But he had been flown on a different plane to Sydney, Australia.

It was then that Mr Pritchard saw another opportunity.

"I said 'look I know I'll get out of here somehow. Do you want me to take some babies":[]}