ON NEW LIFE HELPING ARMY VETS
Tragic bond with family who lost daughter in Arena attack
three toes removed and I was at the end of the line, a crippled alcoholic. Then one day Lyn walked into the the hospital.
PRIDE
“She told me they had a room for me and took me to Lee Rigby House where they literally got me back on my feet again. If it wasn’t for Lyn I would be dead. She may have lost her son Lee but she has been like a mother to me. She changed my life.” Lyn says
helping Michael gave her new purpose and made her realise for the first time she could carry on after Lee’s murder. “Michael was a big achievement for me,” she says. “Getting him off the streets and into somewhere clean and safe where he could recover not just physically but spiritually. I felt enormous pride in doing that. That’s the first time I’ve ever felt like that. LYN Rigby has revealed a tragic bond she has forged with the family of one of last year’s Manchester Arena bombing victims.
Mum Charlotte Campbell and stepdad Paul Hodgson took part in an annual Lee Rigby cycling fundraiser just a day before losing daughter Olivia, 15, in the attack at an Ariana Grande concert last May.
Lyn recognised the couple, who have regularly ridden in Lee’s memory, when she saw them interviewed on TV after the suicide attack claimed 22 lives.
Salman Abedi had detonated the bomb four years to the day after Lee was murdered. It was a painful reminder of the hell Lyn went through on the day she lost Lee – hours of prayers and hope after reports of a soldier being killed in Woolwich only to find out it was her son.
“It shook my family very badly,” says Lyn. “We just kept the TV on all night and Charlotte kept coming on pleading for information about Olivia who hadn’t been in touch since going to the concert.
“Nobody knew where she was at first. Charlotte had phoned the hospitals and she couldn’t find her.
“It took me back because it was 12 hours before we knew Lee was the dead soldier on the news. When Olivia was confirmed dead I had to get in touch.
“I sent her condolences and told her I knew what she was going through. I just wanted to give her a hug because we knew what we went through.
“Charlotte and Paul had come to the bike rides in Lee’s memory every year Michael was the first and we’ve had five bereaved families since February this year and a couple more veterans who have stayed a few days.
“Now I find I have to do more. I want to do more.”
The Foundation has 100 volunteers working for it. And Peter has also pledged to give it £1million from the proceeds of his forthcoming book, Kendo Nagasaki and The Man Behind the Mask. Lyn says: “Eventually we want since his death. They never miss.” The ride in Lee’s memory and to raise money for Combat Stress had been from Rochdale to Middleton in Greater Manchester. “Charlotte and Paul live in Bury just 20 minutes away so we got some flowers for them and Courtney and Amy bought them some bracelets and a necklace which is what they wanted to do,” says Lyn. “We went round to the house as a family two days afterwards and it was a bit emotional to say the least.
“Charlotte was outside waiting. We knew we were putting ourselves through it but we wanted to be there for them. It was hard, but we had been in that situation. There were a lot of hugs, tears, a couple of laughs.
“I would talk about Lee and Charlotte and would talk about Olivia and the antics they got up too. We stayed for two hours and we keep in touch.” Now the Lee Rigby Foundation also gives support to terrorism victims and their relatives as well as veterans and their families.
Charlotte says: “What she did meant the world to us because Lyn is one of the few people who can truly understand what we are going through.
“She has given us a lot of advice and hugs. She is amazing – on the phone whenever we need support.
“Seeing her turn up with her husband Ian and the girls that day meant so much. You could see the bombing was tearing her apart all over again.
“But she was there for us. She is a very special friend.”
six more houses on the estate for families to come to.” A planning application has gone in to build an annexe containing two flats and four bedsits and the Foundation is now trying to raise £300,000 to finance it. After that there are plans to have workshops and a hydrotherapy pool on the estate.
For now, Lee Rigby House is all booked up until September 3.
“All families,” says Lyn. “Mothers who have lost sons. Sisters who have lost brothers. They are from all over. Families who have lost loved ones in
SUPPORT
Afghanistan. I meet them all. Take them in. Make them a tea and have a chat. If they want peace and to be alone that’s fine too. I’ve got a calling now I suppose you could say.
“Everything has changed for me and my family thanks to Peter and the Foundation. Something so positive has come out of something so tragic.”
ON HOW LYN SAVED HIS LIFE
■■To donate to the Lee Rigby Foundation visit facebook.com/ theleerigbyfoundation or leerigbylodge.org