THE WORDS THAT WILL HAUNT ME
The words that will haunt me
Continuing our series marking the upcoming anniversary of the Omagh bombing, ENDA McCLAFFERTY hears one woman's horrifying story of the atrocity and its aftermath
ONLY now can Chris Kelly speak of the horrifying moment which will haunt her for the rest of her life.
The moment when, buried in rubble in the aftermath of the Omagh bomb, she listened to the last words of a woman trapped beneath her.
"I will never forget it. She begged me three times to get off her, but I could not move, and then I felt her draw her last breath," she explained.
"I don't know who she was. I didn't even see her face, but the sound of her voice will stay with me to the grave."
Even more horrifying for the mother of two is her memory of the seconds before that fateful moment.
Chris had been standing just yards from the bomb with her daughter Suzanne when it exploded in Market Street.
"I remember being blown up in the air and landing on a pile of rocks and stone. My first instinct was to look for my daughter Suzanne.
"I remember sitting up and looking up the street and was so relieved when I saw her sitting on the ground.
"My injuries were so bad that I was unable to support myself and I fell back down again.
"I got a terrible shock when I felt the woman lying beneath me. She had dropped out of the sky in the seconds that I was sitting upright.
"It was like a nightmare lying there because there was nothing I could do. In a way I am glad that I did not know who she was because I would find it difficult to face her family now."
Like so many other Omagh bomb victims, Chris is only now able to put into words the carnage and bloodshed she witnessed on August 15 last.
Twelve months of intensive counselling have enabled her to recall that day without breaking down in tears.
Her head is full of the hellish sights and sounds which before this were too painful to recall.
Images such as the sight of her own mangled body lying on the roadside.
"My leg was open from my waist to my ankle. It was full of small polysterene balls which came from the furniture store behind me," she said.
"The lower half of my body was caught up in wires from a British Telecom box and I had to watch helpless as it caught fire."
But the most painful sight of all for Chris was that of her daughter Suzanne sitting in a wheelchair after getting part of her leg amputated.
"I was in a coma for a week and I remember shortly after I came around Suzanne came in and told me about her leg," she said.
"I was gutted and I did not know how she would cope. But in the weeks that followed when I heard about those who had died I realised how luckly we both were.
"At least we survived and although the quality of life is not good we still have each other."
That same sense of relief and gratitude is shared by her daugher Suzanne who has had to learn how to walk again.
In the past 12 months she has undergone six operations and months of counselling.
"It has been difficult but I was determined to make sure that the bomber would not wreck my life."
Continuing our series marking the upcoming anniversary of the Omagh bombing, ENDA McCLAFFERTY hears one woman's horrifying story of the atrocity and its aftermath
ONLY now can Chris Kelly speak of the horrifying moment which will haunt her for the rest of her life.
The moment when, buried in rubble in the aftermath of the Omagh bomb, she listened to the last words of a woman trapped beneath her.
"I will never forget it. She begged me three times to get off her, but I could not move, and then I felt her draw her last breath," she explained.
"I don't know who she was. I didn't even see her face, but the sound of her voice will stay with me to the grave."
Even more horrifying for the mother of two is her memory of the seconds before that fateful moment.
Chris had been standing just yards from the bomb with her daughter Suzanne when it exploded in Market Street.
"I remember being blown up in the air and landing on a pile of rocks and stone. My first instinct was to look for my daughter Suzanne.
"I remember sitting up and looking up the street and was so relieved when I saw her sitting on the ground.
"My injuries were so bad that I was unable to support myself and I fell back down again.
"I got a terrible shock when I felt the woman lying beneath me. She had dropped out of the sky in the seconds that I was sitting upright.
"It was like a nightmare lying there because there was nothing I could do. In a way I am glad that I did not know who she was because I would find it difficult to face her family now."
Like so many other Omagh bomb victims, Chris is only now able to put into words the carnage and bloodshed she witnessed on August 15 last.
Twelve months of intensive counselling have enabled her to recall that day without breaking down in tears.
Her head is full of the hellish sights and sounds which before this were too painful to recall.
Images such as the sight of her own mangled body lying on the roadside.
"My leg was open from my waist to my ankle. It was full of small polysterene balls which came from the furniture store behind me," she said.
"The lower half of my body was caught up in wires from a British Telecom box and I had to watch helpless as it caught fire."
But the most painful sight of all for Chris was that of her daughter Suzanne sitting in a wheelchair after getting part of her leg amputated.
"I was in a coma for a week and I remember shortly after I came around Suzanne came in and told me about her leg," she said.
"I was gutted and I did not know how she would cope. But in the weeks that followed when I heard about those who had died I realised how luckly we both were.
"At least we survived and although the quality of life is not good we still have each other."
That same sense of relief and gratitude is shared by her daugher Suzanne who has had to learn how to walk again.
In the past 12 months she has undergone six operations and months of counselling.
"It has been difficult but I was determined to make sure that the bomber would not wreck my life."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0584
Published Date: 12-Aug-99
Related Images
