Sent by and Angel

Kevin Skelton watched helplessly as a bomb ripped apart the life he knew. It was 15 August 1998, and the place was Omagh, County Tyrone. Kevin’s wife Mena was one of the 29 people killed that day, and his
daughter Shauna was horrifically injured. Kevin was just yards away when the bomb struck, and it was he who found his wife’s battered body under the rubble. Kevin had lost the love of his life.

Kevin sank into the depths of despair after the bomb. At a time when his family needed him most, he turned to drink and self-loathing, often wishing he could have taken Mena’s place that day. More than once, he held a loaded shotgun to his mouth, but he could never go through with it.

Mena was the angel who saved him. A year before she died, she and Kevin had taken a young girl, Andreea, from a Romanian orphanage for a two-week holiday to their home, and Andreea had returned to Ireland the following year, just a couple of weeks before the tragic bombing. Kevin vowed to keep up these visits for Mena’s sake, and he gradually became involved in organising charitable trips to the orphanage. It was there that he met Andreea’s mother, Maria, and a new love was sparked. Kevin was convinced that Mena had sent Andreea and Maria to him. He believes Mena has been a constant presence in the family’s life since her death, watching over them and protecting them.