20.APR.07

A single father-of-two proposed to an American woman he met on the internet four minutes after flying 4,000 miles to see her for the first time.

Carl Dockings, 36, from Newport, south Wales, popped the question to Danielle at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport after the pair met playing cards on the internet.{{more}}

The 26-year-old said “yes” and the couple were married four months later.

The pair are now settled in his home city with their daughter Isabel, who was born on New Year’s Day.

Council worker Dockings explained how the couple met while playing the card game gin online.

He said: “I’d always liked cards and was filling in the evening. I went on there and bumped into Danielle playing in a card game and we hit it off straight away.

“I was inundated with work and the computer was where I went to relax and wind down and that’s where I found Danielle.

“We got on so well. We just seemed to know what the other was thinking.

“Danielle’s the most loving, caring person I’ve ever met and that came through straight away.”

Dockings said the pair had fallen in love before even exchanging pictures, but that sending a photograph was still a “nerve-wracking” experience. He said: “We finally agreed to swap photos and Danielle sent one over first – after seeing the photo of her I was terrified of sending the photo of myself.”

When Docking flew to Chicago to meet his bride-to-be, who is from nearby Wisconsin, he did not waste time before popping the question. (BBC)