Over £22,000 raised for Strabane man who died in Australia

THE MOTHER of a Strabane man who died suddenly in Australia last month has raised over £22,000 for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, after the charity helped bring his remains home.

Jamie Sandhu, who was only 31 at the time of his death on May, 3 had been living in Australia with his partner Sophie for seven years working as a scaffolder.

When mum Deobrah Doherty was given the tragic news, she began to worry about the price it would cost to repatriate her son’s body.

She told the Strabane Chronicle, “I was told that the price to bring someone back home to Ireland could cost as much as £8,000.

“Jamie died suddenly and it was a huge shock and my only thought was that we had to bring him home. That’s when I was advised to call the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust (KBRT).”

The county Down based charity was founded out of a family tragedy when, in June 2013, Kevin Bell died suddenly in New York. As a permanent legacy to Kevin, the Bell family decided to use the funds to establish a charity to help other families who find themselves in a similar situation.

Ms Doherty said that the support and help that they received from the charity has been ‘immense’ and that KBRT took over the complete organisation of the repatriation of Jamie’s remains.

She said, “I can’t put into words the gratitude I felt to have that worry taken away from me. When I rang the charity it was actually Colin Bell (Kevin’s father) who answered.

“The support him and the staff at KBRT gave to me and my family meant so much to us. There is no way I can repay them but I thought I can help raise money to help another family.

“We have now raised enough to help three families. To raise this amount of money in Jamie’s name has meant everything to us.”

Jamie was laid to rest following Requiem Mass at St Mary’s Church, Melmount on Saturday, May 25, which followed a memorial service in Sydney earlier in the month.

“Jamie was a very popular person; everyone loved him and hundreds of people attended his funeral and memorial service,” said Ms Doherty.

“His funeral was beautiful which was a real testament to his character. He was friends with everyone, it didn’t matter who you were to him — he didn’t have a bad bone in his body.”

Ms Doherty said she would like to thank all those who have contributed to the Go Fund Me page which has so far raised £22,255.

You can donate to the the Go Fund Me page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/jamie-sandhus-memorial-fund-kevin-bell-repatriation-trust