Couple who met in video game and married virtually defy 3,700-mile distance to settle in Wales and welcome first child

A pair of gamers from opposite sides of the Atlantic who fell in love through a “survival horror” game and were married over video call have now settled under one roof and welcomed their first child.

Lewis and Ameila Relfe, 25 and 32 respectively, met in 2017 through the Friday The 13th video game – which is based on the popular slasher movie series of the same name – where players must work together to escape a masked killer.

The pair hit it off, chatting online and playing dozens of video games together for several hours a day, and they soon started a long-distance relationship – with Lewis based in Wales and Ameila living 3,653 miles away in Saltville, Virginia, in the United States.

They met in person for the first time in April 2018 and Lewis popped the question during a romantic trip to Aberystwyth for Halloween the following year – and the determined pair were married via video call on New Year’s Day in 2021 after the Covid-19 pandemic thwarted their previous wedding plans.

After spending nearly six years apart, Ameila was able to apply for a visa to obtain British residency in February 2023 – and the pair now live together in Ceredigion, Wales, along with their young daughter, Evelyn, who was born in April 2024.

“Even though most of our relationship was spent living so far apart, it all feels like a distant memory now,” Lewis, an assistant cheese maker at a local, family-run dairy farm, told PA Real Life.

“I think playing video games helped keep us together because we spent a lot of time bonding through it.”

Ameila, who works at a local restaurant, added: “Moving to the UK and starting a family isn’t something I imagined doing.

“Once we started going through the process and we knew it was a possibility, it was a relief after so many years of waiting.”

The couple first connected when Lewis sent Ameila a link to join his “private party” – which allows Xbox players to start chatting one-on-one – after finishing a game of Friday The 13th in July 2017.

Ameila said she clicked the link without thinking before realising she was on the line with a complete stranger.

She was about to leave the call when Lewis started talking.

“He said ‘hello’ and I realised it was a British person, so I decided to stay,” Ameila said.

“From then on, we started playing games together every day and became really good friends, and then it just kind of grew from that.”

The pair started developing feelings for each other and became more than friends after Lewis plucked up the courage to ask Ameila out – but not before they had a video call to ensure neither was getting catfished.

Ameila then upped the ante in April 2018 when she visited Lewis in Wales for the first time.

“I was a bit nervous because it was my first time leaving the US,” she said.

“A lot of people told me I was crazy to travel to another country to meet someone who I had met online.”

They met at the airport in what Lewis described as a “surreal moment” and spent the next two weeks together.

The trip was a huge success and Ameila returned to the UK periodically, even staying for six months in June 2019.

Lewis decided to pop the question, dressed as Friday The 13th killer Jason Voorhees, while the couple were staying at a caravan park in Aberystwyth on Halloween in 2019 – Ameila’s favourite holiday.

“We went out on the town and we went to the pier,” Lewis recalled.

“I distracted her by telling her to look at the view.

“When she turned around, I was on my knees and my words were ‘do you want to marry me or something?’

“And then she said to me ‘are you sure?'”

Wedding planning commenced and the couple looked to celebrate their nuptials in the United States on Halloween in 2020 – until their plans were scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Determined to tie the knot, Lewis and Ameila were officially pronounced husband and wife over video call instead on January 1 2021.

“It was a video call between me, Lewis and the officiant who married us,” Ameila said.

“I was a bit sceptical at first – like, is this legit?

“Me and my mum opened a bottle of wine to celebrate and Lewis’s family were in the room with him on the video call, so we all celebrated.”

An in-person vow renewal may now be on the horizon for the couple so they can celebrate their marriage in a more traditional manner, but they say it is not something they currently have the budget for.

“We do wish the original ceremony could have been in person with our family and friends,” Lewis added.

Married at last, Ameila began her application for a visa and was given the green light in February 2023, before moving over the following month.

The pair have lived together in Wales ever since, and they welcomed their first child, Evelyn, in April 2024 – which has been an “interesting experience”.

“It’s been rewarding, there are times where it’s really stressful and exhausting, but that’s part of parenting,” Ameila said.

“Seeing her grow and learn new things is really special.”

Lewis added: “It’s a surreal experience to spend most of your life without something, and then all of a sudden you have this little human that’s half you and half your partner.”

Living under one roof with a young child requires “teamwork”, the pair said – but playing video games together has given them plenty of practice.

“There’s a lot of teamwork and it took a bit of time to get used to each other’s quirks,” Ameila said.

Ameila has recently applied for an extension to her visa to remain in the UK, and she said there are times where she “misses being back home” – but she enjoys the “laid back” nature of Wales and her mother, Mitzi, 53, visits often.

There are also talks of the couple having more children in the near future.

“It’s more likely when we see Evelyn smile…when she starts crying it’s less likely,” Lewis joked.

The pair still dabble in playing video games together but this is now scheduled around Evelyn’s nap times.

Reflecting on their journey, Lewis and Ameila advised other couples in the throes of long-distance relationships to “not give up”.

Lewis also said playing video games together can “really help”.

“A lot of people going the distance communicate through texts and calls but there’s only so much you can really connect through that,” he said.

“Because we played video games, it was an activity, a hobby, that we could enjoy together – and we didn’t have to be in the same room to do it.”