Love story began on Brisbane’s famous bridge

He proposed to her atop Brisbane’s Story Bridge 20 years ago. Now the couple have returned to the place it all began — with a few family members in tow.

A STORY that began on the top of Brisbane’s most famous bridge has seen the Derwin family gather to celebrate 20 years later.

For Michael Derwin, there was no better time to ask his then-girlfriend to become his wife than when working on an ad on the top of the Story Bridge in 1999.

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“I worked as a rock climbing instructor, and I was asked to climb the bridge with my girlfriend at the time for a jazz festival, there was no official bridge climb then,” he said.

“I decided that day that now is as good a time as ever to propose. I didn’t have a ring or anything I just asked her”.

Michael Derwin relives his proposal to wife Susanna on top of the Story Bridge 20 years ago with children (from left) Sunday, 11, Lily, 13, Oliver, 19, and Sam, 16. Picture: Annette Dew

Now 20 years later, Mr Derwin has climbed the bridge to celebrate their 20th anniversary with his wife Susanna Derwin and four children, with their eldest son Oliver leading the climb.

Oliver landed a job with the Story Bridge Adventure Climb a year ago and since, a rare twist of events has revealed that his girlfriend’s father John Sharpe is the same man that approved the climb all those years ago.

“I had no idea but when John and I met we got chatting and I told him we were the crazy people who got engaged on the bridge,” he said.

“He said, ’You’re kidding. I was the supervisor that did all of the approvals for that.’ ”