Colin and Eithne Bell, founders of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, have explained that they are not retiring but rather have recruited staff.
It had been reported that the pair were stepping back from the trust, which helps bereaved families bring the bodies of loved ones home from abroad, however Mr Bell explained they had instead appointed a director of operations, as well as a repatriation assistant, and hope to fill another position soon.
Speaking on Sunday with Miriam, Mr Bell said the couple were not "getting any younger" and wanted to keep the trust going into the future.
"We want to copper-fasten the trust so that in 60 years the Kevin Bell Trust will still be doing its work", he said.
Mr Bell said he will still be in the office every day, but will not be "answering the phone" 24/7.
He added that they also have the support of their trustees and their children.
The couple set up the charity in 2013 after their son Kevin died in a hit-and-run incident in New York that year.
Ms Bell said of the moment she learned of her son's death: "Every time you mention it it’s sort of reliving it again. It’s just one of those moments you’ll never, ever forget."
Mr Bell described how their local community in Newry, South Down and South Armagh rallied around them and went into a "frenzy of fundraising" to help the family.
"Within a week they raised £150,000 to bring Kevin home," he said. "Of course it didn’t cost that."
'We decided that we would make this Kevin's legacy'
The week after Kevin’s funeral, they heard of a young man from Belfast who was killed in Thailand.
"So, we got in contact with his parents and said 'We have this money, we will pay to bring your son home'."
The following week, Conor Brady from Co Sligo died in Las Vegas, and the family reached out again.
"When it comes to your own door, it shouts at you from television or the newspaper of another family who has received the terrible news, said Mr Bell.
The parents of Ryan Doyle, who died the year before Kevin, in Perth, contacted the family to give £72,000 they had, and then others began to send the family money, explained Mr Bell.
"So, we decided that we would make this Kevin’s legacy and we applied to the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland and the Charity Regulator in the Republic and we became a charity," he said.
Ms Bell said her son had the type of personality that "people were drawn to him", adding he "loved the craic".
"People would still talk about him. He was a great fella for fancy dress and for practical jokes."
Ms Bell said their lives took a different direction when Kevin was killed.
"And it wasn’t necessarily a bad direction ... through Kevin’s death he has introduced us to parts of Ireland we didn’t know existed", she said.
"We have met amazing people, made lifelong friends with families that we have helped. We’ve been to weddings, we’ve been to christenings, to housewarmings."
Ms Bell said whenever she meets these people, there is "just a certain connection".
The couple also won £1 million in the UK lottery in 2017.
