'This is Kevin’s legacy' - Bell on repatriation trust

Colin Bell (centre) was speaking on the latest episode of the GAA Social podcast

Former Down minor player Colin Bell constantly has his phone switched on, and at 70, is as busy as ever.

So busy, in fact, that he answers two phone calls during the recording of The GAA Social podcast with Thomas Niblock and Oisin McConville.

Bell leads the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, which was setup in memory of his son Kevin who was killed in a hit-and-run incident in New York in 2013.

The trust has since brought home to Ireland over 1,800 people and that number continues to grow.

'It gives a family reassurance in a terrible moment'

In a wide-ranging interview with Thomas and Oisin, Bell explained the purpose of the charity, which he set up in order to "celebrate" the life of his son and how it serves to help others.

"If people are ringing us, they’re looking for advice or help in the case of someone being killed abroad," he told the podcast.

"When the family gets that news, where do they turn to? They don’t know and I was in that position.

"For me to answer that phone and tell the family 'This is what we’re going to do, you don’t have to do anything' I think at a terrible moment in their lives, it gives them reassurance they will get their loved one home."

He continued: "If someone dies anywhere in the world and needs the body home, we will arrange to get the body home and pay for it.

"It was so important for us to get Kevin home. When he got home there was a calmness in our house."

'When Kevin died, Newry came round us like a blanket'

Colin Bell was a former Down minor and U21 player

Bell set up the charity as he wanted to give something back after the kindness of the local community, who rallied round the family after Kevin's death.

"When Kevin died Newry came round us like a blanket, it was unreal," he admitted.

The community in Newry through a variety of fundraisers, helped raise in the region of £150,000 to bring Kevin back home.

However, after Kevin's American employers agreed to pay to transport his body home, the Bell family decided to use the money to help other families who faced the same situation.

"About a week after Kevin’s funeral, we learnt about a young man from Carryduff who had been killed [Stephen Clifford] and we rang his parents and said we would bring him home and the same with a young man [Conor Brady] who died in Las Vegas who was from Sligo and it just went on," he said.

"We knew the pain they were going through, and we had this money that wasn't ours."

The family of Ryan Doyle, a young man from Leitrim who was also killed in a hit-and-run accident in Australia, then gave Bell's family in the region of £72,000, which was raised to bring their son home.

From there, Bell and the rest of the family "decided to make it Kevin’s legacy" to bring those killed abroad, back to Ireland.

It took a year and a half for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust to become a registered charity in the north and south of Ireland, but they continued to help bring people home in the meantime.

It can cost several thousand pounds to repatriate bodies and, until the trust was established, families had to pay themselves because neither the UK or Irish governments cover the expense.

Now, the charity is the first port of call for many across the island of Ireland to help bring their loved one home, and they have repatriated people from countries across the globe.

'Anyone who talks about Kevin talks about him with a smile'

Kevin Bell had been living in New York for 10 months before his death

Bell reflects fondly on his memories of his son Kevin, who was 26 and had been living in New York for 10 months when he was hit by two cars and killed on 13 June 2013.

"Kevin was a good lad; he left his mark and anyone who talks about him talks about him with a smile."

Bell recalls "crying every day" for a number of weeks after his son's death, but that he has been able to process the grief.

No-one was ever convicted of Kevin's killing, but Bell insists that those who drove on after hitting him "don't come into my thoughts at all."

"We don’t think about them, I’d sooner it was Kevin had been killed than he was the driver," he admitted.

"At no stage did we feel it eating at us. It could have eaten at us, and we could have been bitter but that is not the kind of people we are.

"It wouldn’t bring Kevin home and it wouldn’t be right. We accepted Kevin had a good life and was gone and maybe that’s why Kevin was put on earth, he always said he would be famous," Bell joked.

Through the work of his father, his family and the trust, Kevin has certainly left a legacy which has helped countless people across Ireland.