{"id":464660,"date":"2026-05-24T10:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464660\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T10:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:37:21","slug":"this-could-only-happen-in-ireland-how-a-sons-death-in-new-york-has-led-to-almost-2500-grieving-families-being-helped-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464660\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This could only happen in Ireland\u2019: How a son\u2019s death in New York has led to almost 2,500 grieving families being helped \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eithne Bell emerges from the kitchen of her Co Down<\/a> home with plates of home-made wheaten bread and cups decorated with a striking red-headed bird.<\/p>\n

This is the Newry house where her twin sons, Kevin and Brendan, had their first birthday two days after the family moved in 39 years ago.<\/p>\n

The enormous blue-panelled kitchen (a walk-in larder room was built after they won \u00a31 million<\/a> on the UK lottery in 2017) was half the size back then, Eithne says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t move away, with all our neighbours here,\u201d she says, smiling.<\/p>\n

She points to a corner of the room where she and her husband, Colin, set up a charity with \u201cpen and paper\u201d in memory of Kevin after their son\u2019s sudden death in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first two years, it was all run from the kitchen table and a filing cabinet,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Kevin Bell (26) was killed in a hit-and-run incident in the Woodlawn area of the Bronx in June 2013.<\/p>\n

One of seven children, he was \u201cour only redhead\u201d and he \u201cloved life\u201d, says his mother.<\/p>\n

\"KevinKevin Bell was one of seven children. Photograph: Arthur Allison\/Pacemaker Press <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great set dancer and c\u00e9il\u00ed dancer. Any adjudicator would have said, \u2018the wee redhead fella, he has the feet\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within a week of the tragedy, \u00a3150,000 (about \u20ac175,000) was fundraised to bring Kevin\u2019s body home; the couple put aside the money to help other bereaved families when their son\u2019s US employer paid the cost of transporting his remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next thing, it just snowballed,\u201d recalls Eithne.<\/p>\n

The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust now operates globally.<\/p>\n

It is the only organisation of its kind in the world; almost 2,500 bodies have been brought home by the charity to families across Ireland.<\/p>\n

Every repatriation is paid for by the trust.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s \u201cnot a parish in Ireland we haven\u2019t touched\u201d, says Colin.<\/p>\n

The couple have invited The Irish Times to their home after announcing they are stepping back from the day-to-day running of the charity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got too big,\u201d says Eithne.<\/p>\n

They insist, however, they will remain \u201cvery much involved\u201d.<\/p>\n

Women who experience miscarriages abroad have been among those supported by the trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll bring the baby home,\u201d says Eithne.<\/p>\n

The oldest person repatriated was a 104-year-old west Belfast man who was brought back to Clonard from Spain last week.<\/p>\n

Colin points to his mobile phone \u2013 it beeps repeatedly over the next 90 minutes \u2013 and shows photographs of him receiving a cheque in Knocknagashel, Co Kerry.<\/p>\n

He scrolls to another picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I was yesterday, in Listowel, to collect a cheque for \u20ac20,000. Another \u20ac7,000 was raised in Killarney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s cheque presentations every day. I\u2019m going to Lurgan later, then the Cross Keys Inn at Toomebridge and schools in Omagh and Dungannon.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we meet on a Monday morning, the retired schoolteacher and former Down GAA minor player has just returned from the Whitegates Community Business Park in Newry, where the trust has been based for a decade.<\/p>\n

The couple employed a director of operations nine months ago to work with another staff member in the Newry office.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the first two years, we employed a part-time secretary, Mairead Lynam. She was invaluable,\u201d Colin explains.<\/p>\n

Updates on repatriations flash up on his phone screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what is going on the at moment … New York, Australia, London, Thailand, Malaga, Crete, New Zealand, Kenya. Those are all in progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing 30-35 a month. Once a family contacts us, they don\u2019t have to do anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phone continues to ping.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of it, now we have someone who can take the calls,\u201d says Colin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt releases us to meet people and do cheque presentations.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Belfast woman who contacted the trust after her son\u2019s sudden death says the support given \u201cwas like a weight being lifted off our shoulders\u201d.<\/p>\n

Niall McCullough (27) died from a brain injury following an accident in Wolverhampton four years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cColin asked me where Niall was. He told me to leave it in his hands,\u201d Margaret McCullough says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just the financial aspect of it, it was knowing what doors to open, how to deal with all the red tape. We didn\u2019t have to do any of that. It\u2019s a bad enough time without having to get your family member home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EithneEithne Bell: ‘It’s about the importance of getting your loved ones home.’ Photograph: Arthur Allison\/Pacemaker Press <\/p>\n

The McCullough family organised a fundraiser and met Colin for the first time afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to shake his hand and instead he gave me a hug,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was such a humble, calm man,\u201d adds Billy McCullagh, Niall\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

For Eithne, the charity\u2019s success is linked to its location.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could only happen in Ireland. It is about the importance of getting your loved ones home.\u201d<\/p>\n

She taps her cup with the decoration of a goldfinch; the songbird is the trust\u2019s official emblem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe picked it because it has a red head and birds like to come home to nest,\u201d she says, blinking away tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing Kevin bought me was a bird table. We would do Kris Krindle at Christmas. He picked my name out and he asked me for some ideas. I said I would love the table … and he got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA goldfinch is the official emblem of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. Photograph: Arthur Allison\/Pacemaker Press. <\/p>\n

The couple reflect on the early months of the charity as they struggled with their grief.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kept Kevin with us, that\u2019s what your days were consumed with,\u201d Eithne says.<\/p>\n

Some repatriations can take weeks, with costs rocketing to thousands of pounds depending on the country \u2013 the repatriation bill for the US is up to $15,000 (nearly \u20ac13,000).<\/p>\n

Neither the UK nor Irish governments cover the expense.<\/p>\n

The return of their son\u2019s body was the \u201cquickest ever\u201d, according to the couple.<\/p>\n

\u201cKevin died at quarter to three on a Sunday morning. His postmortem took place on a Sunday afternoon,\u201d says Colin.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis body was released to the undertaker on Monday and he was on a flight home on Tuesday night. He was in our house on Wednesday at lunchtime. Unheard of. It was just miraculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

They recall a moment during his wake when they realised they wanted to create a trust in his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore fundraising was coming in and I remember we were in the sittingroom. We looked at each other and I thought, \u2018Kevin\u2019s not the first and he won\u2019t be the last\u2019,\u201d says Eithne.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that stage, we had decided we were going to make this Kevin\u2019s legacy,\u201d adds Colin.<\/p>\n

Kevin lived in New York for 10 months before his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, he was just going for three months; then he rang me one day and said, \u2018Mummy, I\u2019m going to stay\u2019,\u201d she says, crying.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved it. It was big enough for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

During one visit to Woodlawn five years after his death, the couple were left speechless when a Palestinian taxi driver produced Kevin\u2019s memory card.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were getting a taxi back into Manhattan and the driver asked what we were doing out here. We told him about a fundraiser for our son,\u201d says Eithne.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pulled down his sun visor and took Kevin\u2019s memory card out and said, \u2018I had your boy in my taxi many times\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the type of person Kevin was \u2013 if you met him, you felt as if you always knew him. He was a great character.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s six surviving children are the charity\u2019s trustees and \u201cadamant they want to be a part of it\u201d, according to Colin, who turns 73 next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the Kevin Bell Trust to still be there in 40 years, in 80 years. We\u2019re putting everything in place so it will continue on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eithne is approaching her 70th birthday and is proud of what they have achieved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen parts of Ireland we never knew existed; we\u2019ve got visiting Australia, America, met fantastic people and made really good friends. We\u2019ve been at weddings of people we\u2019ve helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple agree their son \u201cwould be in his element\u201d at the trust\u2019s success. <\/p>\n

\u201cKevin always wanted to be famous,\u201d adds Colin, laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, we\u2019re probably the luckiest charity in the world \u2013 the support we get.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eithne Bell emerges from the kitchen of her Co Down home with plates of home-made wheaten bread and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21753,61,60,43,2443],"class_list":["post-464660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-down","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}