The best hero hubbies
In 2002, loving family man and father-of-two Kevin Wells’s life changed for ever. His beautiful daughter, Holly, 10, and her best friend, Jessica Chapman, also 10, vanished after a family barbecue at their house.
Kevin and his wife, Nicola, along with Jessica’s parents, made a heartfelt plea for the safe return of their children. ‘ We plead that you don’t harm these two girls,’ Kevin begged at a press conference.
But, almost two weeks later, the girls’ bodies were found in a shallow grave, close to their home town of Soham, Cambs.
Ian Huntley, a caretaker, was later convicted of murdering the innocent girls, and the two families had to try to come to terms with their unimaginable loss.
Then, in 2004, a woman named Shelley Gilbert contacted the Wells family and sent them a copy of her Grief Encounter Workbook.
Shelley had experienced bereavement, losing both her parents when she was young, and wanted to help the family. So, while grief could have torn the Wells family apart, remarkable dad Kevin, now 53, instead became a founding patron of the charity Grief Encounter, which aims to help and support families suffering from crippling loss. Talking of his new role, he said, ‘I could have wept tears of joy and relief when I read the workbook, and I’m now proud to help this charity.’ The heroic dad has raised over £50,000 in an effort to ensure families like his own don’t suffer alone.
In an interview, Kevin said he was determined that losing his daughter wouldn’t break him.
‘ We still think of Holly every day,’ he said. ‘ We have her pictures in and around the house, but it’s not a shrine – we don’t live in the past.’