The family of popular Dubliner Charlie Chapman has raised thousands for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust following his unexpected death last month.
The 66-year-old from Portmarnock was well-known among Irish holidaymakers in Lanzarote as he founded the famous Charlie's Bar in Puerto del Carmen as well as popular Irish bar Craic N' Ceol, which is now managed by his son Ryan. He was also a member of the popular The Miami Showband in the 1970's.
Mr Chapman died in January while attending a Manchester United versus Everton game in Old Trafford with his son. Due to his death occurring in the UK, the family faced delays with getting his body home.
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Thankfully, the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust took the family's case on board and organised everything to get Mr Chapman returned to Ireland as soon as possible. The family are now fundraising for the charity so other families in need can avail of the "incredible" service.
Speaking to Dublin Live, Mr Chapman's daughter Fauve said: "My dad went over with my brother who bought him tickets to see a Manchester United match against Everton.
"My brother supports United and my dad supported Everton so they went over just for a few days. On the day of the match, they got to the stadium and he was suffering with his breathing.
"They called emergency services and he had a heart attack. He died on the way to the hospital.
"Because it was unexpected, they had to do a post mortem. It would have taken two weeks for his body to be released anyway, then plus the post mortem and getting him home. So the total time he was over there before we got him home was six weeks.
"We had never heard of the Kevin Bell Trust but somebody told us about it. We gave them a call and then they sorted everything straight away once they got his details from the coroner in the UK.
"They handled everything for us."
Fauve said the family have started the fundraiser to "say thanks" to Kevin Bell for "everything they did for their dad".
"Because dad was quite well-known and he had a lot of musician friends, we thought it would be great to start a fundraiser," she said. "On the GoFundMe we have over €1600 already.
"We had a great live event in the Craic N' Ceol here in Lanzarote on Sunday with musicians performing on stage and we put a donations box at the bar so people could donate with cash and I think we got up to €1,000 on that.
"Kevin Bell is such an important trust so I just wanted to say thanks to them for what they did for our dad."
To donate to the Chapman family's fundraiser for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, click here.
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