SENT BY AN ANGEL INSPIRATIONAL TRUE STORY OF LOVE BUILT OUT OF THE RUBBLE OF OMAGH
Sent By An Angel' -inspirational true story of love built out of the rubble of Omagh
KEVIN Skelton did not die in the Omagh bomb of August 15, 1998, but, on that day and since, he has, in his own words, 'gone down many a bad road, faced all sorts of demons, found solace in a bottle and contemplated suicide'.
Now, he tells the world, in an 85,000-word biographical account of the last 12 years and beyond, he is 'finally moving on with my life. It's been very hard to turn things around but, thankfully, I got through it fairly intact'.
The quotes are from his moving ghost-written experiences co-authored by YvonneKinsella, 'Sent by an Angel', which received its media launch in Dublin yesterday (Tuesday) and will have its Northern Ireland release at Belfast's Europa Hotel today.
Kevin will also speak about the book in Friday evening's Late, Late Show on RTE and sign copies of the 'inspirational true story of love built out of the rubble of Omagh' at the Carlisle Book Shop in the town between lpm and 2.30pm on Saturday.
The Angel in question is Kevin's wife, Mena, whom he strongly believes has watched lovingly over him since dying in the carnage wreaked by that Real IRA bombing of the Tyrone market Town on a gloriously sunny late-summer Saturday afternoon.
Mena, the former Philomena Logue, was 39 when she was killed in the worst atrocity of The Troubles. She was the mother of four children, Ray, then 16, the only one not in Omagh that fateful day, Paula, 18, Tracey, 15 and the youngest, Shauna, also grievously hurt in the town-centre blast, 13.
Shauna suffered facial and neck injuries and was initially treated in Tyrone County Hospital, but was later transferred to Altnagelvin and then to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, ultimately spending three weeks in hospital.
In the book Kevin, now 55, relates how he lost the love of his life and how he reached his lowest ebb following the bomb. But he also tells how Mena became the angel who saved him, turning his life around from 'the depths of despair and how I felt the world had dealt me the worst blow ever'.
A year before she was killed Mena and Kevin brought Andreea from a Romanian orphanage to their home for a two-week holiday and, aged 10, she returned 12 months later and had just flown home on the Sunday before the bomb was detonated.
Once again she had holidayed with the Skelton family through the auspices of the North-West Romanian Relief Fund for which Kevin had become an energetic fundraiser.
Her mother, Maria, is now Kevin's wife and he writes: "It goes without saying that if I could have turned the clock back and brought Mena back into our lives, I would have done it in the blink of an eye, but, unfortunately, life isn't that easy.
"But I do believe that Mena sent Maria to me; beyond a shadow of a doubt. In my mind, it was all simply a matter of fate. I know for a fact that my life was mapped out for me, from the day I met Mena until the day she died and right up until now.
"I cannot change fate; no one can. What happened in my life was meant to happen in my life, however hard and disastrous it may have felt at the time. I am grateful for the life I had with Mena. She was the love of my life; there is no doubt about it.
"That is by no way taking anything away from Maria; I love her for many different reasons. But Mena was my first love, she gave me four beautiful children who I am so proud of and I will always love her 'til the day I die.
"Maria knows that Mena was the love of my life and she doesn't have a problem with that. In fact, Maria always asks me how the grave is. She is a very caring person. I'm sure that if Mena was alive today and she met Maria, just in passing, the two of them would get on great. Both of them are caring, considerate people."
The book, which contains a poem by Mena's daughters, 'Reality', and one by Gerry Skelton, 'Precious Tears' begins with Kevin terming Saturday, 15 August, 1998 as 'The Day My World Stood Still', and continues through his first sighting of Mena in the 1970s.
There follows the harrowing days in the bomb's aftermath and the Skelton family's Romania connection, which began in 1997 after Kevin and Mena responded to an advertisement placed in the local press.
Kevin also highlights the plight of the country's people before expanding on a gradually blossoming romance portrayed under the touching title, 'The Letter', which resulted in his marriage to Maria on October 12, 2005.
That had Kevin thinking, 'Maybe Mena was finally happy, knowing that I had settled down and had someone there to look after me'. On October 6 the following year Gabriella was born to the happy couple.
In the meantime, Kevin and Mena's daughter, Tracey and her husband, Mark, had a baby girl, they christened Mena. Alas, the little girl lived just 12 days, but Tracey subsequently presented her father with a grandson, Aaron, who is doing well after a difficult introduction to life.
Kevin's heartrending tale is brought right up to date with his take on the Omagh bomb victims' civil action.
This 'True story of love rising from the ashes of tragedy, a romance that reaches beyond the boundaries of this world' is difficult to read without bringing a tear to the eye of even the most hard-hearted reader, but it is worth the journey to discover how the two lives of Kevin Skelton have been inextricably united through unimaginable adversity - by an angel.
Sent by An Angel is published by Poolbeg Books Limited.
KEVIN Skelton did not die in the Omagh bomb of August 15, 1998, but, on that day and since, he has, in his own words, 'gone down many a bad road, faced all sorts of demons, found solace in a bottle and contemplated suicide'.
Now, he tells the world, in an 85,000-word biographical account of the last 12 years and beyond, he is 'finally moving on with my life. It's been very hard to turn things around but, thankfully, I got through it fairly intact'.
The quotes are from his moving ghost-written experiences co-authored by YvonneKinsella, 'Sent by an Angel', which received its media launch in Dublin yesterday (Tuesday) and will have its Northern Ireland release at Belfast's Europa Hotel today.
Kevin will also speak about the book in Friday evening's Late, Late Show on RTE and sign copies of the 'inspirational true story of love built out of the rubble of Omagh' at the Carlisle Book Shop in the town between lpm and 2.30pm on Saturday.
The Angel in question is Kevin's wife, Mena, whom he strongly believes has watched lovingly over him since dying in the carnage wreaked by that Real IRA bombing of the Tyrone market Town on a gloriously sunny late-summer Saturday afternoon.
Mena, the former Philomena Logue, was 39 when she was killed in the worst atrocity of The Troubles. She was the mother of four children, Ray, then 16, the only one not in Omagh that fateful day, Paula, 18, Tracey, 15 and the youngest, Shauna, also grievously hurt in the town-centre blast, 13.
Shauna suffered facial and neck injuries and was initially treated in Tyrone County Hospital, but was later transferred to Altnagelvin and then to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, ultimately spending three weeks in hospital.
In the book Kevin, now 55, relates how he lost the love of his life and how he reached his lowest ebb following the bomb. But he also tells how Mena became the angel who saved him, turning his life around from 'the depths of despair and how I felt the world had dealt me the worst blow ever'.
A year before she was killed Mena and Kevin brought Andreea from a Romanian orphanage to their home for a two-week holiday and, aged 10, she returned 12 months later and had just flown home on the Sunday before the bomb was detonated.
Once again she had holidayed with the Skelton family through the auspices of the North-West Romanian Relief Fund for which Kevin had become an energetic fundraiser.
Her mother, Maria, is now Kevin's wife and he writes: "It goes without saying that if I could have turned the clock back and brought Mena back into our lives, I would have done it in the blink of an eye, but, unfortunately, life isn't that easy.
"But I do believe that Mena sent Maria to me; beyond a shadow of a doubt. In my mind, it was all simply a matter of fate. I know for a fact that my life was mapped out for me, from the day I met Mena until the day she died and right up until now.
"I cannot change fate; no one can. What happened in my life was meant to happen in my life, however hard and disastrous it may have felt at the time. I am grateful for the life I had with Mena. She was the love of my life; there is no doubt about it.
"That is by no way taking anything away from Maria; I love her for many different reasons. But Mena was my first love, she gave me four beautiful children who I am so proud of and I will always love her 'til the day I die.
"Maria knows that Mena was the love of my life and she doesn't have a problem with that. In fact, Maria always asks me how the grave is. She is a very caring person. I'm sure that if Mena was alive today and she met Maria, just in passing, the two of them would get on great. Both of them are caring, considerate people."
The book, which contains a poem by Mena's daughters, 'Reality', and one by Gerry Skelton, 'Precious Tears' begins with Kevin terming Saturday, 15 August, 1998 as 'The Day My World Stood Still', and continues through his first sighting of Mena in the 1970s.
There follows the harrowing days in the bomb's aftermath and the Skelton family's Romania connection, which began in 1997 after Kevin and Mena responded to an advertisement placed in the local press.
Kevin also highlights the plight of the country's people before expanding on a gradually blossoming romance portrayed under the touching title, 'The Letter', which resulted in his marriage to Maria on October 12, 2005.
That had Kevin thinking, 'Maybe Mena was finally happy, knowing that I had settled down and had someone there to look after me'. On October 6 the following year Gabriella was born to the happy couple.
In the meantime, Kevin and Mena's daughter, Tracey and her husband, Mark, had a baby girl, they christened Mena. Alas, the little girl lived just 12 days, but Tracey subsequently presented her father with a grandson, Aaron, who is doing well after a difficult introduction to life.
Kevin's heartrending tale is brought right up to date with his take on the Omagh bomb victims' civil action.
This 'True story of love rising from the ashes of tragedy, a romance that reaches beyond the boundaries of this world' is difficult to read without bringing a tear to the eye of even the most hard-hearted reader, but it is worth the journey to discover how the two lives of Kevin Skelton have been inextricably united through unimaginable adversity - by an angel.
Sent by An Angel is published by Poolbeg Books Limited.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1992
Published Date: 01-Apr-10
Related Images
