…By Henry George for TDPel Media.
Lee Rigby’s mother, Lyn Rigby, fears her son has been forgotten a decade since he was brutally killed in a Jihadi execution.
On the 10th anniversary of the murder, which led to a “decade of heartbreak” for Lyn Rigby, she has taken it upon herself to make sure his name is remembered.
The 25-year-old machine gunner and proud drummer from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was butchered in a terrorist attack on May 22, 2013, as he walked home to his army barracks in Woolwich, South East London.
Lyn has launched a foundation in her son’s name to help bereaved military families like her own, as well as suffering veterans.
Lee was off-duty and in civilian clothes when British-born Muslim converts Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale picked Lee out at random and attacked him.
They mowed him down from behind in a speeding car before hacking him to death in the street with knives and meat cleavers, almost beheading him in front of hundreds of terrified onlookers.
The jihadi killers didn’t run away after the murder.
Instead, they stayed put, roaming among the public, glorying in what they had just done.
They tried to justify their actions as revenge for the deaths of fellow Muslims in wars such as Afghanistan.
Lyn has devoted time to running her charity, the Lee Rigby Foundation, which she set up to help bereaved military families like her own, as well as suffering veterans.
Lyn said, “When my life fell apart, I had nowhere to run to for help.
That’s why I vowed to use Lee’s name for good, by creating a retreat where grieving families can escape to when life becomes too hard to bear.”
As time marches on, what’s crucial for Lyn is that Lee remains a huge part of the family, often symbolised by empty chairs, candles and photos at events.
Lyn told The Mirror that “It’s my job to make sure people remember him – not just as the murdered soldier from the TV but as a loving son, dad and brother.”
She added, “Ten years without my son has been heart-breaking.
The pain is there every day, so much so that it becomes a part of you. But what tears me apart is to think that people have forgotten him 10 years on.”