A BURY-born expat was left devastated after Hurricane Irma destroyed his bar on an idyllic sunshine island.

Simon Healey, aged 37, swapped Bury for life on the Caribbean island of St Martin 14 years ago, and is now owner of one of its most popular bars, Honky-Tonk.

But, his life was turned upside down in September when Irma tore through the Caribbean, causing widespread disruption and at least 134 deaths.

After taking refuge in their apartment during the hurricane, Simon and his family returned to the bar to find it in ruins.

He said: “We were hiding and all we could hear was noise.

“When we went outside afterwards it was just like ‘wow’. I don’t really know how to explain it. When you walk around and look at things, it’s just like ‘oh my god’.

“All the front of the bar was damaged and where people used to sit on the terrace, it all collapsed.”

Prior to moving to St Martin, the former St Gabriel’s pupil worked as a mechanic for his father, Stephen.

Stephen, who owns Washington Garage, in Hornby Street, Bury, said: “When the storm hit, we could not get hold of them for a week because of the phone lines and a lack of signal, so we didn’t know whether they were safe.

“Simon is having to do the work to rebuild the bar by himself as he can’t afford to pay anyone.

“While he is rebuilding, there are no cruise ships coming in so he has no income. He has three children and a wife to support.”

St Martin — split between a Dutch and a French side – was one of the islands hit the hardest by Hurricane Irma, and suffered enormous damage as it was hit by winds of up to 185 miles an hour.

Simon lives on the Dutch side of the island, where his three children were born, and he also met his wife, Blakely, who is originally from America, there.

After scraping together £20,000 of savings for repairs, he is hoping to reopen the bar on December 4, although the effect that the hurricane has had on the island’s tourist industry may take longer to recover from.

Stephen said: “There are no tourists so there is no money circulating.

“That’s what runs his business, the cruise ships. The whole island relies on the industry.”

“Since the hurricane hit, he has not earned a penny. They are rapidly running out of money and with Christmas coming up things are not looking too good.”

Stephen has set up a funding page to help out his son’s family and aims to raise £3,000 to help pay for bills and Christmas presents for his grandchildren.

To donate visit www.gofundme.com/simon-and-family.