DEVASTATED
DEVASTATED... Godfrey and Ann Wilson with their 20-year-old son
By Martin Anderson
Family's heartbreak at loss of an 'angel'
GARRY Wilson was gardening in front of his family's Omagh home on Saturday afternoon when he heard a loud bang.
As the 20-year-old looked up, a cloud of smoke rose above the tree-line at the end of his street. His little sister was dead.
Like many other relatives whose loved ones were caught up in Northern Ireland's worst ever atrocity it would be many hours before the reality of Lorraine's death was confirmed.
"I was with my dad working in the garden when I heard the bang," he said. "I looked up and saw the smoke rising above the trees.
I knew it was coming from town."
Despite the immediate fears of his mother, Garry refused to believe that his 15-year-old sister could have been hurt and rushed into town to find her.
"Me and my older sister immediately drove down town and I was just searching everywhere. I couldn't find her at the scene so I looked up around the top of the town at the bus station. I couldn't find her anywhere.
"I went up to the hospital and searched around the hospital. There was no sign of her. We waited and we waited."
Garry revealed how he searched the corridors of Tyrone County Hospital fearing that his little sister's mangled body lay nearby.
"Me and a couple of friends were searching and we saw a couple of bodies going past us with sheets over them. I was just thinking ''Could that be her?'."
The devoted brother's search was in vain. His sister's body lay in a makeshift morgue at the nearby army camp.
His father, Godfrey, spent Saturday night at the incident centre in Omagh Leisure Complex with other men, women, and children, desperately waiting for news about their loved ones.
It was 11am on Sunday when Mr Wilson finally got the news he had feared most.
"I was around at the leisure centre when I heard she was dead," he said. "I actually had to force it out of the police but I suppose they have their procedures to follow."
Lorraine's mother, Ann (40), sister, Denise (21), and brother Colin (10), joined Garry and Godfrey on the sombre trip to the morgue to identify her body.
Mr Wilson said: "She obviously got the full blast of the bomb so at least it was an instant thing.
"Her body was left as it was found so it was very tough having to identify her but the whole family was there. She had a face full of shrapnel."
Lorraine had just finished her first week of summer work in her sister's cafe in the town and was looking forward to a night out on the town with her friend Samantha McFarland who died by her side.
The pair worked together in the town's Oxfam shop. Their charity was repaid by the bombers with death.
Her father said: "She was the kindest girl you could get and would do anything for you. She was more than delighted to get a job in the Oxfam shop.
"I work shifts and I wakened her on Saturday morning to make sure she didn't sleep in for the job.
"She had just earned her first week's pay. I told her to save half of it but she spent none of it. She never got the chance to spend it.
"We reared an angel to 15 and now she has been taken away from us."
By Martin Anderson
Family's heartbreak at loss of an 'angel'
GARRY Wilson was gardening in front of his family's Omagh home on Saturday afternoon when he heard a loud bang.
As the 20-year-old looked up, a cloud of smoke rose above the tree-line at the end of his street. His little sister was dead.
Like many other relatives whose loved ones were caught up in Northern Ireland's worst ever atrocity it would be many hours before the reality of Lorraine's death was confirmed.
"I was with my dad working in the garden when I heard the bang," he said. "I looked up and saw the smoke rising above the trees.
I knew it was coming from town."
Despite the immediate fears of his mother, Garry refused to believe that his 15-year-old sister could have been hurt and rushed into town to find her.
"Me and my older sister immediately drove down town and I was just searching everywhere. I couldn't find her at the scene so I looked up around the top of the town at the bus station. I couldn't find her anywhere.
"I went up to the hospital and searched around the hospital. There was no sign of her. We waited and we waited."
Garry revealed how he searched the corridors of Tyrone County Hospital fearing that his little sister's mangled body lay nearby.
"Me and a couple of friends were searching and we saw a couple of bodies going past us with sheets over them. I was just thinking ''Could that be her?'."
The devoted brother's search was in vain. His sister's body lay in a makeshift morgue at the nearby army camp.
His father, Godfrey, spent Saturday night at the incident centre in Omagh Leisure Complex with other men, women, and children, desperately waiting for news about their loved ones.
It was 11am on Sunday when Mr Wilson finally got the news he had feared most.
"I was around at the leisure centre when I heard she was dead," he said. "I actually had to force it out of the police but I suppose they have their procedures to follow."
Lorraine's mother, Ann (40), sister, Denise (21), and brother Colin (10), joined Garry and Godfrey on the sombre trip to the morgue to identify her body.
Mr Wilson said: "She obviously got the full blast of the bomb so at least it was an instant thing.
"Her body was left as it was found so it was very tough having to identify her but the whole family was there. She had a face full of shrapnel."
Lorraine had just finished her first week of summer work in her sister's cafe in the town and was looking forward to a night out on the town with her friend Samantha McFarland who died by her side.
The pair worked together in the town's Oxfam shop. Their charity was repaid by the bombers with death.
Her father said: "She was the kindest girl you could get and would do anything for you. She was more than delighted to get a job in the Oxfam shop.
"I work shifts and I wakened her on Saturday morning to make sure she didn't sleep in for the job.
"She had just earned her first week's pay. I told her to save half of it but she spent none of it. She never got the chance to spend it.
"We reared an angel to 15 and now she has been taken away from us."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0674
Published Date: 18-Aug-98
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