‘Tell The Kids I Love Them’: Man Threw Himself Over Fiancee During Tunisia Beach Massacre, Lived To Tell Tale

Matthew James was at the Tunisia Beach resort with his fiancee Saera when Islamic State follower Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire on the beach-goers. The Tunisia Beach massacre left 38 dead and 39 wounded, making it the worst attack on Britons since the 7/7 London bombing. As Rezgui approached the sunbathing couple and began firing, Matthew immediately jumped in front of Saera and wrapped his body around hers, effectively shielding her from the gunfire. Matthew then told Saera to run for her life and leave him there to die before telling her to “tell the kids I love them.” However, the harrowing story doesn’t end there. Despite all odds, James lived to tell an amazing story of love and survival.

The Daily Mail recently sat down for an interview with Matthew James in which he detailed his amazing story of survival. James was at the Tunisia Beach with his fiancee Saera when the horrifying attack took place. As the couple sat on their beach loungers, gunman Seifeddine Rezgui approached a German couple in front of them and opened fire. At that point, James says he threw himself in front of Saera as a human shield. He was struck with three bullets and says he initially didn’t know what had happened.

“It was a three-round burst and that’s when I spun round and grabbed Saera. And that’s when he shot me. I blacked out for a second or so. I remember being on the floor and rolling and thinking, ‘Bloody hell, what was that?’ because it didn’t hurt for a few seconds. I thought I’d been hit with a firecracker or something.”

However, as he brought his hands to his stomach, he realized he had been shot and told Saera to run for her life, but not before saying his last goodbyes.

“I love you babe, tell the kids I love them, but go now because they need one of us to look after them and I’m going to die.”

Saera followed her dying partner’s wishes and fled to safety inside of a hotel broom closet. Meanwhile, James resigned himself to death on the beach until he noticed the German man lying in the sand in front of him. He realized, by watching the German man die, that he may have a chance of survival.

He noticed that he wasn’t as bad off as that man and knew he had to try to survive in order to see his children and Saera again. Therefore, as gunshots continued to fire around him, he used all of his strength to crawl up the beach to a group of hotel staff members screaming at him to come towards them. After making his way to the hotel staff and other tourists, James would survive for over an hour without any medical treatment. Finally, he would be whisked away in an ambulance where he would receive life-saving treatments.

Saera says that James is her hero and the couple has decided to move up their wedding to next summer.

“I owe my life to him, there is no question of that. And the way he found the mental and physical strength to keep going after he thought he was going to die was incredible. He is my hero for sure.”

[Image Credit: Facebook via Daily Mail]