OMAGH'S FOOTBALL FAN HERO LOCATED
Omagh's football fan hero located
By Seamus McKinney
THE Celtic shirt-clad hero of the Omagh bombing tragedy has been located by the Irish News following nationwide appeals for him to come forward.
Sean O'Connor (19) from Dromore, won the respect of thousands when he was captured on an amateur video helping the injured and dying in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. The Fermanagh College student's brief appearance amid the carnage of the bomb site sparked a hunt by the club who want him to accept a �50,000 donation for the Omagh fund. After reading about the appeal and seeing calls for his identity to be made known on television, the 19-year-old's father Seamus contacted the Irish News yesterday to reveal his son was the hero on camera.
It is now hoped Sean will travel to Dublin next week to accept the proceeds of a performance of The Celtic Story which is being performed to a gala audience.
At home where he lives with his father Seamus, mother Bernie and brother Mark (15), Sean played down his part in the seconds after the bombing. "I was just around the corner from it and there was a big explosion and then you saw the big puff of smoke coming up over the buildings and the slates flying in the air.
"I parked the car and saw people running with blood coming from their faces. I was in a state of shock and did not know what to do. I was kind of afraid to go around the corner but I was curious.
"All I could see was bodies lying everywhere and limbs lying," he recalled.
Minimising his own part in the rescue mission, the teenager said there was little anyone could do.
His father, who was with Sean at the time, said he tried to remove rubble from some of the injured but eventually saw that his son was being overcome by the scenes and took him home. Sean's mother said the Omagh bombing was the second time in the last year that tragedy had struck close to her home.
The Dromore woman revealed that Paul McGirr, the young Tyrone minor who died tragically while playing for his county last year, was a classmate, clubmate and close personal friend of her son.
"The first thing he said when he came through the door was 'I thought after Paul McGirr, nothing would shock me again but that shook me'," she recalled.
Describing her hero son as a quiet, shy and modest teenager, she stressed that he wore a Celtic shirt merely because it was his favourite T-shirt and not for any political reasons.
A keen sports fan, Sean studies sport and leisure at Fermanagh College and hopes to take up a career connected with sports.
By Seamus McKinney
THE Celtic shirt-clad hero of the Omagh bombing tragedy has been located by the Irish News following nationwide appeals for him to come forward.
Sean O'Connor (19) from Dromore, won the respect of thousands when he was captured on an amateur video helping the injured and dying in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. The Fermanagh College student's brief appearance amid the carnage of the bomb site sparked a hunt by the club who want him to accept a �50,000 donation for the Omagh fund. After reading about the appeal and seeing calls for his identity to be made known on television, the 19-year-old's father Seamus contacted the Irish News yesterday to reveal his son was the hero on camera.
It is now hoped Sean will travel to Dublin next week to accept the proceeds of a performance of The Celtic Story which is being performed to a gala audience.
At home where he lives with his father Seamus, mother Bernie and brother Mark (15), Sean played down his part in the seconds after the bombing. "I was just around the corner from it and there was a big explosion and then you saw the big puff of smoke coming up over the buildings and the slates flying in the air.
"I parked the car and saw people running with blood coming from their faces. I was in a state of shock and did not know what to do. I was kind of afraid to go around the corner but I was curious.
"All I could see was bodies lying everywhere and limbs lying," he recalled.
Minimising his own part in the rescue mission, the teenager said there was little anyone could do.
His father, who was with Sean at the time, said he tried to remove rubble from some of the injured but eventually saw that his son was being overcome by the scenes and took him home. Sean's mother said the Omagh bombing was the second time in the last year that tragedy had struck close to her home.
The Dromore woman revealed that Paul McGirr, the young Tyrone minor who died tragically while playing for his county last year, was a classmate, clubmate and close personal friend of her son.
"The first thing he said when he came through the door was 'I thought after Paul McGirr, nothing would shock me again but that shook me'," she recalled.
Describing her hero son as a quiet, shy and modest teenager, she stressed that he wore a Celtic shirt merely because it was his favourite T-shirt and not for any political reasons.
A keen sports fan, Sean studies sport and leisure at Fermanagh College and hopes to take up a career connected with sports.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0348
Published Date: 02-Sep-98
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