'My wife was screaming for help and I couldn't get to her': Tunisia attack survivors describe nightmare ordeal

Video report by ITV News' Neil Connery

A survivor of the Tunisia beach massacre has told ITV News that he still feels guilty about not being able to reach his wounded wife as she screamed for help.

Tony and Christine Callaghan ran for their lives with other panic-stricken tourists as gunman Seifeddine Rezgui rampaged through the Sousse resort last month.

Mr Callaghan, who had been shot in the leg, managed to barricade himself inside a hotel room with five others, but quickly realised that his wife of 44 years was injured in the corridor.

"My wife was literally four feet away from me on the other side of the door screaming for help after she'd been shot and I couldn't get to her," the 63-year-old said, fighting back the tears.

Mr Callaghan said he could not risk the lives of others in the room by opening the door in case Rezgui was lying in wait.

"I feel so guilty that I was in that room and Chris hadn't made it in - she was right behind me and I honestly thought she was in there with me as I dived into that room for cover.

"That's something I've got to live with."

Turning to her tearful husband, Mrs Callaghan, 60, attempted to reassure him: "It doesn't matter to me; I'm here alive...you shouldn't feel guilty."

Mrs Callaghan, whose thigh bone was shattered in the attack, said her husband has been there for her "24 hours a day to listen me and to hug me when I'm crying".

She will undergo further surgery in September in the hope of regaining full use of her legs.

The couple, from Norfolk, say they are still reliving the "nightmare" every day, with loud bangs and violent film scenes instantly bringing back memories of what happened on June 26.

"We've reacted to some loud bangs going off - just for that split-second you have to think where you are because it brought back memories of that gunfire," Mr Callaghan, a former RAF serviceman, told ITV News' Neil Connery.

"Even silly little things like watching a movie like Bourne Legacy where a scientist was locked inside a room and killing his colleagues.

"That for us was frightening to watch and brings back the memories of that particular day."

People hold hands in a circle on the beach where the gunman opened fire. Credit: Reuters

The couple recalled how they burst into tears as they watched Britain fall silent to remember the 38 people, including 30 Britons, killed in the attack.

"We were lucky enough to watch that. We both burst into tears - we couldn't believe the respect that people were showing for us as well as the others," Mr Callaghan said.

He added: "It's like being in a nightmare. Everything is so clear what happened - it's like a big bubble we've been in."

"But we're here; we can look ahead and build our future together."