IMAGES OF DEAD WILL STAY WITH ME FOREVER
Images of the dead will stay with me forever'
By Maureen Coleman
AN OFF-duty nurse who joined in the rescue operation sobbed as she described how she comforted a man whose wife died in the blast.
The nurse, who was visiting a friend in Omagh, said the harrowing images of the dead and injured would stay with her forever.
"We knew to expect the worst when the appeal for medical staff came out," said the nurse, who asked not to be named.
"But the scenes at the hospital were like nothing we could have imagined.
"There was blood everywhere - on the walls, on the floor, blackened bodies with their clothes ripped off were lying in a sea of blood, and
there were people walking around in a stunned daze
She added: "It was absolutely horrific - the worst nightmare possible."
The nurse told how she tried to comfort a man whose wife had been killed in the explosion.
"He was crouched down against the wall, with his head in his hands, he told me that his wife was dead and his children were missing.
"I covered him up in a sheet and put my arms around him, but there was nothing else I could do.
"There was also a young boy, of about eleven or twelve, strapped into a stretcher.
"His hair was burnt and standing on end, and he was deathly white, he kept staring at me, with huge frightened eyes.
"That image will haunt me forever."
By Maureen Coleman
AN OFF-duty nurse who joined in the rescue operation sobbed as she described how she comforted a man whose wife died in the blast.
The nurse, who was visiting a friend in Omagh, said the harrowing images of the dead and injured would stay with her forever.
"We knew to expect the worst when the appeal for medical staff came out," said the nurse, who asked not to be named.
"But the scenes at the hospital were like nothing we could have imagined.
"There was blood everywhere - on the walls, on the floor, blackened bodies with their clothes ripped off were lying in a sea of blood, and
there were people walking around in a stunned daze
She added: "It was absolutely horrific - the worst nightmare possible."
The nurse told how she tried to comfort a man whose wife had been killed in the explosion.
"He was crouched down against the wall, with his head in his hands, he told me that his wife was dead and his children were missing.
"I covered him up in a sheet and put my arms around him, but there was nothing else I could do.
"There was also a young boy, of about eleven or twelve, strapped into a stretcher.
"His hair was burnt and standing on end, and he was deathly white, he kept staring at me, with huge frightened eyes.
"That image will haunt me forever."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0058
Published Date: 18-Aug-98
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