It’s hard to imagine the joy in this picture was prefaced with war, detention and torture. Sadly that’s the heartbreaking truth behind this image of two hugging lovers.

He proposed Dec 2012. Since: besieged,detained,tortured,made refugee for 1.5 years. Today:reunited in UK? #syria pic.twitter.com/4vfxAx3OJ4

— Rose Alhomsi (@tweets4peace) January 1, 2016

Rose Alhomsi is the woman in this image and her fiancée is Ahmed had been detained by Assad forces in Syria. Their love story spans years of separation, conflict and torture. Buzzfeed reports that the couple originally intended to marry in 2013 but their plans were halted when Rose’s uncle and his son were killed by an Assad regime. The conflict has forced the couple to be separated on numerous occasions, the most notable in late 2013 Ahmad was detained in Damascus. He was eventually released in March 2014. Rose tells Buzzfeed: “I look at him with me today and he is still suffering. He can barely stand on his feet, his shoulder dislocates if he lifts too much, his back is still marked, he is in pain all the time. He has never told me the full story – he gives me tiny snippets here and there, and it just makes me freeze. He feels guilty he is now safe and his friends inside aren’t. Inside, there were women and children.” Read the full story HERE.