Keeping alive the memory of resort attack victims

Suzy Richards has been recalling events of 10 years ago

On 26 June 2015, Suzy Richards lost three generations of her family in the Tunisia resort attacks, including a son. Another son, Owen, survived. He was 16.

On the tenth anniversary of the shooting in Port El Kantaoui near Sousse, Ms Richards - who also lost her father and a brother - has been recalling the moments when, in the UK, she began to realise something was wrong.

But amid the pain, and the fact "every anniversary's difficult", there were now brighter observations to share.

Ms Richards said she sometimes felt as if the characteristics of her lost relatives had since "morphed" into Owen, adding: "Owen's all of them now." There is also a charity keeping their memories alive.

Charles Patrick Evans, 78; Adrian Evans, 49; and Joel Richards, 19, were among 38 people killed by a gunman at a beach resort. The trio were on holiday to celebrate the end of Owen Richards' GCSE exams.

An inquest heard Owen had tried to shield his grandfather from the attack, with a coroner praising his bravery.

Ms Richards, from Wednesbury, was at work when it happened. "I received a phone call from Owen and that's the first I heard about it," she said.

"That phone call was, you know... I couldn't comprehend what Owen was saying to me. It was such a shock, it was disbelief.

"Then I started getting text messages off family and friends asking me what hotel the boys were at and that's when it started to sink in that something had happened.

"Then I had a Sky News bulletin on my phone and I recognised the hotel."

Charles Evans, Adrian Evans and Joel Richards were killed in the 2015 attack

Mr Richards, now 26, told the BBC that one of the things he recalled of the events 10 years ago was that "nobody really" was looking after him before being reunited with his mother.

"I ended up in a hospital during the night," he said, "and it was a very chaotic, crazy night, with doctors bringing TV camera crews, trying to bring them into the hospital."

Ms Richards remembered similar in the UK, saying: "The whole situation was a shock. We just didn't know how to manage it, how to manage the newspapers knocking on our door."

She is now supporting those similarly bereaved, helping them to handle the ordeal.

Ms Richards is an MBE, recognised for her services to people bereaved by homicide, including terrorism. The support comes from the Smile for Joel charity, named in memory of her son who was a physical education and sports coaching science student at the University of Worcester.

Walsall FC has announced the cause will be the club's official charity partner for the 2025/26 season.

"We used to say that Walsall matches were like little Jolly Boys' Outings," Owen Richards said, explaining how the late Saddlers fans enjoyed the sitcom Only Fools and Horses which featured an episode of the same name.

Owen Richards said he did not "want their story to be something that's just a horrible tragedy"

"It's such a horrible and traumatic event which happened," Mr Richards said. "But [with the charity] we wanted to do something positive, because we know Joel, we know Ade, we know my grandad.

"They were such amazing people that we don't want their story to be something that's just a horrible tragedy."

He said he was "very lucky" to have the three as his role models, and that they had "made me who I am today and mum as well".