I always felt that he was sorry... he just couldn’t bring himself to say it

Children In Crossfire charity chief Richard Moore has long forgiven Charles Inness and the pair were hailed by the Dalai Lama after being invited to meet the spiritual leader in 2010.

Richard was robbed of his sight, aged 10, after being hit by a rubber bullet as he walked home from school past a military checkpoint in Derry in 1972.

The pair were first reunited for a BBC documentary in 2006, but, despite their friendship, Charles (78) had never apologised. Until now.

Richard is looking forward to travelling to Scotland in October to be reunited with his friend and has revealed how Charles finally told him he was sorry.

The 59-year-old said: “They say ‘sorry’ is the hardest word and, for years, Charles had his own logic for not doing so… but he has now.

“Charles was of the opinion that, when you say ‘sorry’, it means that you didn’t mean to fire the bullet. He’d say, ‘I meant to fire the bullet, but I never meant to cause the damage’. He always said if he’d known what was going to happen to me, he wouldn’t have fired it.

“To me, that is semantics, but the more I talked with Charles and the more we got to know each other, I always felt that he was sorry. He just couldn’t bring himself to say it. And, then, eventually, many years after we first met, we were talking about the ‘sorry’ word one night and he said to me, ‘Richard, I am sorry’.

“When it came, it was really moving. I didn’t need it, I didn’t ask for it, but when it came it was really, really nice. It really was.”

Richard added: “People ask me why I’m not angry? Why I’m not bitter? I don’t know sometimes. I’m just not, and I’m glad I’m not because I’m very happy because of it.

“To meet Charles meant there was no more mystique, no mystery, and no more shadows. As soon as I met him, I liked him, we got on very well and have remained friends.

“He was over here in Derry last September and we went to lunch together and we talk on the phone.

“This October, I am supposed to go and speak at an event near where he lives in Scotland… COVID permitting.”

Richard has never dwelled on losing his sight. He is a married dad-of-two, owned two pubs, gained a university degree, ran the New York marathon, and formed his own charity, Children In Crossfire, which has raised over £30million to help millions of children worldwide since 1996.

His charity was recently awarded a £250,000 UK Government grant through the Department For International Development’s ‘UK Aid Direct’ scheme to help provide 100,000 children in the Dodoma region of Tanzania with an education.

Richard said: “Thanks to UK aid and their flexibility, we have pivoted that slightly and we have developed a similar campaign to what’s happened in the UK, trying to help parents to home-school.

“We have developed resources for the parents to be able to work with their kids at home and make sure they get the right messages.

“It is two-pronged, so we are educating kids on handwashing and social distancing to help them avoid the virus, while making sure that they have access to education in the same way as parents want that for our children in the UK.

“It is important we don’t let the ball drop and we continue to make sure children are not disadvantaged. Education is a ladder out of poverty for these kids.”

He added: “That rubber bullet might have cost me my sight, but it gave me the vision to set up Children In Crossfire. It’s taken me on a journey to helping children in Africa.

“I remember meeting an 11-year-old girl called Tenaye, who was living in a graveyard in Ethiopia with her four siblings because they’d been orphaned. They had to sit there begging all day just to get a few cents to feed themselves.

“It was so heart-breaking to meet a child - the same age as my youngest daughter - being neglected in such a graphic way. We eventually raised enough money to buy 60 small condos to give all 260 people living in that graveyard in Addis Ababa a roof over their head, electricity and running water.

“Two years ago, I was back out there and I bumped into Tenaye, in her 20s by now. She placed her little baby, Barkot, in my arms and she was now a classroom assistant and so happy. Sixteen of those young people we supported have now gone through university or further education.

“I wish anyone critical of foreign aid could see the difference that is being made the way I have.”

Richard was nicknamed the ‘Derry Lama’ by Joanna Lumley when she attended the charity’s 20th anniversary conference in 2017.

He’s also rubbed shoulders with celebrity supporters including legendary Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson and comedian Billy Connolly.

Richard said: “Billy Connolly opened our office back in 1996. I’m a massive fan and he was performing in Derry and I got to meet him and, when I told him about the charity, he helped support us.

“Alex Ferguson launched our ‘Flicker of Hope’ campaign in 1997. I was a director at Derry City football club and I got Fergie’s number through our manager at the time, Jim McLaughlin.

“I thought I was ringing an office secretary and I nearly fell off my chair when Alex Ferguson answered the phone at the training ground. I was utterly tongue tied.”

The way Richard has overcome his blindness and never shown any bitterness is an inspiration to the people he meets on his African trips.

He explained: “I meet lots of disabled or disadvantaged people who are totally written off, but I hope that, when they see the role I have as a person with a disability, they can see that there is a life to be had.

“Me losing my sight was horrendous for my parents. I think that my mother basically had a mental breakdown. I can remember wakening up at night and my mother not realising I was awake, and she was literally broken-hearted and crying to God.

“I remember her saying, ‘He’s only a 10-year-old boy, please give him his eyesight back’.

“My uncle Gerald had been killed by the British Army on Bloody Sunday and I’d been blinded later the same year – but I genuinely never heard any bitterness from them.

“I think my mammy and daddy could distinguish that people are individuals and you don’t tar everyone with the same brush.

“There was a British soldier, a major, who contacted my parents and wanted to help in some way.

“He used to send over the top ten singles every week; he bought me my first braille watch and sent me a chessboard that blind people could use to play. I still have the watch and the chessboard.

“My mammy was of the opinion that there are good people everywhere, and bad people everywhere, and she accepted his kindness for what it meant at that time.

“I go to a lot of places where there’s been conflict and people are suffering and I hope my story helps prove that forgiveness is the best way to move on.”

International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “Richard Moore’s inspirational story helps illustrate how UK aid is supporting charities like Children in Crossfire to help children fulfil their full potential and step out of poverty through education. Through supporting projects like this, over the past year the UK Government has helped to build more than 3,000 primary classrooms in Tanzania, helped train almost 54,000 teachers in over 5,000 schools, and set up almost 1,900 community pre-schools.”