OMAGH LIFTS ITSELF FROM SHADOW OF BOMBING
Omagh lifts itself from shadow of bombing nightmare
It has been an enormously difficult year for the people of Omagh. Here MARTIN BREEN reveals some of the happier moments in the past 12 months which have helped lift the gloom for some of the victims.
THEY were the days the people of Omagh thought they would never see - the stories of joy as bomb victims rebuilt their lives.
On June 25, Sandy Smith (23) and 31-year-old Mark Blackwell tied the knot in his hometown of Lancaster despite having met just once before last August's explosion.
When he heard that she had been badly hurt in the outrage, he rushed to be at her bedside in the intensive care unit of Enniskillen's Erne hospital. They had just met months before on holiday in Devon but as she lay injured in hospital, he proposed to her on bended knees.
She suffered paralysis in her left leg from the knee down, perforated ear drums and massive scarring to her back and legs from shrapnel injuries.
In one of the most positive images from the past year, Sandy walked for the first time unaided up the aisle at the wedding service.
Donna Marie Keyes and Gary McGillion walked down the aisle on March 27 with the heartbreaking absence of their flowergirl, 21-month-old Breda Devine, who died in the bomb. The couple, who were critically injured in the atrocity, had been due to many just a week after the bombing but instead were fighting for their lives.
New-born babies who defied the bombers and survived the explosion on August 15 have become beacons of hope for Omagh.
But tragically they have also rekindled memories of the story of Avril Monaghan, who died in Market Street carrying unborn twins.
Just days after the explosion, 21-year-old Nicola Emery, who suffered cuts to her legs, gave birth to a baby daughter in the South Tyrone Hospital.
Another new mum was Elaine Martin, from Gortin Road, who sustained neck and back injuries when the car bomb rocked Omagh.
Her son Ian became the centre of attention during Prince Charles' visit to Enniskillen's Erne Hospital in May, just 20 days after he was born.
In the run-up to the June 30 deadline for devolution, she had appealed for peace to be established in the province for the sake of her son and other local children.
It has been an enormously difficult year for the people of Omagh. Here MARTIN BREEN reveals some of the happier moments in the past 12 months which have helped lift the gloom for some of the victims.
THEY were the days the people of Omagh thought they would never see - the stories of joy as bomb victims rebuilt their lives.
On June 25, Sandy Smith (23) and 31-year-old Mark Blackwell tied the knot in his hometown of Lancaster despite having met just once before last August's explosion.
When he heard that she had been badly hurt in the outrage, he rushed to be at her bedside in the intensive care unit of Enniskillen's Erne hospital. They had just met months before on holiday in Devon but as she lay injured in hospital, he proposed to her on bended knees.
She suffered paralysis in her left leg from the knee down, perforated ear drums and massive scarring to her back and legs from shrapnel injuries.
In one of the most positive images from the past year, Sandy walked for the first time unaided up the aisle at the wedding service.
Donna Marie Keyes and Gary McGillion walked down the aisle on March 27 with the heartbreaking absence of their flowergirl, 21-month-old Breda Devine, who died in the bomb. The couple, who were critically injured in the atrocity, had been due to many just a week after the bombing but instead were fighting for their lives.
New-born babies who defied the bombers and survived the explosion on August 15 have become beacons of hope for Omagh.
But tragically they have also rekindled memories of the story of Avril Monaghan, who died in Market Street carrying unborn twins.
Just days after the explosion, 21-year-old Nicola Emery, who suffered cuts to her legs, gave birth to a baby daughter in the South Tyrone Hospital.
Another new mum was Elaine Martin, from Gortin Road, who sustained neck and back injuries when the car bomb rocked Omagh.
Her son Ian became the centre of attention during Prince Charles' visit to Enniskillen's Erne Hospital in May, just 20 days after he was born.
In the run-up to the June 30 deadline for devolution, she had appealed for peace to be established in the province for the sake of her son and other local children.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0577
Published Date: 09-Sep-99
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