BRIDE TO BE SAYS I WAS SO LUCKY
Bride to be says 'I was so lucky'
By GARY KELLY
KATHERINE Kelly should have been getting married on the 26th of this month, instead she expects to be in hospital undergoing surgery to restore feeling to her shattered right foot.
But Katherine, 26, and her best friend and chief bridesmaid Rachel Davis are among the lucky ones who survived the Omagh bomb.
Her foot is broken and a severed nerve in her thigh means she has no feeling from her ankle down. She is hoping that micro-surgery will restore sensation to her foot, if not she will have to wear a metal brace.
Rachel has had metal pins inserted to strengthen her broken right leg. These pins will remain in her leg for the rest of her life.
Katherine, a Roman Catholic, has nothing but contempt for the people who planted the Omagh bomb.
"These people, whoever they are, I hope they are happy. Rachel, my best friend, is a Protestant. Did they think I was going to turn around and thank them for taking my best friend's life? I would make them suffer as much as the people of Omagh have been suffering every hour of every day."
Last week, Katherine and Rachel were among the injured and families of the bereaved, who met US President Bill Clinton at Omagh Leisure Centre.
The young woman was impressed by the humanity of the beleaguered President and Tony Blair and how much their private personalities differed from the public faces they present to the world.
"President Clinton spent a great deal of time with the bereaved families. When they were telling their stories, you could see it really got to him. He was very touched and Hillary was crying. There was a difference between the man in that hall and the man making the speech in Armagh.
And she praised Secretary of State Mo Mowlam who has promised to attend her wedding which has been re-scheduled for July 31.
"She stayed there for an hour and a half, long after the others had left. She was just brilliant. She didn't have to ask your name twice. She remembered me in the hospital and that I was getting married in three weeks time and she wanted me to let her know when the wedding would be."
Looking around that hall, at the injured and those whose lives had been torn apart by the blast, Katherine's mind went back to the awful events of August 15 when 29 people lost their lives. She felt a deep bond with those people with whom she had shared a horrific experience.
"There were people in the hall that I remembered from that Saturday. Everyone of us has something in common and everyone will keep in touch," she said.
The day of the bomb, Katherine was in town for an afternoon appointment. She went into the restaurant where Rachel works as a waitress, to have a cup of coffee and to write out some wedding invitations.
While she was there, someone came into the restaurant to tell them to get out because of a warning that a bomb had been placed at the courthouse.
The two friends were standing at the bottom of the street outside McElroy's shoe shop when the bomb exploded.
Apart from the shock of the blast, the first thing she remembered was an eerie silence.
"I remember everything was so quiet for about 20 seconds then bits of building came down. Everything happened in slow motion.
"I remember looking around in the direction of Campsie and all I could think was to run. I didn't even think of my best friend," said Katherine.
"When I went to use my right leg, I fell down. I thought my leg had been blown off. I lifted my dress and saw my foot hanging.
A long piece of shrapnel was stuck at the top of my thigh.
"I looked and saw Rachel sitting up. I was shouting at her to talk to me. She can't remember speaking back.
As well as breaking her foot, Katherine lost a lot of blood and was just released from the Ulster Hospital a couple of days before the President's visit.
"I was conscious through the whole lot. I was thinking, don't go to sleep. All I could think of was my mum. It was a week ago that my granny had died and I thought my mum would go crackers if anything happened to me.
Like the rest of the injured, Katherine and Rachel will undergo counselling to help them through the emotional trauma of the bombing and its aftermath.
The enormity of what happened struck Katherine when she lay in her hospital bed watching funeral after funeral on television.
"I thought I was so lucky I was able to open my eyes that day. I kept thinking it could have been me."
"When I came home, I got a lot of visitors but when I'm alone I think, 'what if my best friend hadn't made it?' I just can't believe it happened. A lot of innocent people were taken and for what?"
She believes that many of the injured feel a common sense of guilt that they survived while so many others perished in the bomb.
"Last Thursday, when the President was there, I was looking around the table in front of me at the bereaved. I could imagine my parents sitting around that table."
By GARY KELLY
KATHERINE Kelly should have been getting married on the 26th of this month, instead she expects to be in hospital undergoing surgery to restore feeling to her shattered right foot.
But Katherine, 26, and her best friend and chief bridesmaid Rachel Davis are among the lucky ones who survived the Omagh bomb.
Her foot is broken and a severed nerve in her thigh means she has no feeling from her ankle down. She is hoping that micro-surgery will restore sensation to her foot, if not she will have to wear a metal brace.
Rachel has had metal pins inserted to strengthen her broken right leg. These pins will remain in her leg for the rest of her life.
Katherine, a Roman Catholic, has nothing but contempt for the people who planted the Omagh bomb.
"These people, whoever they are, I hope they are happy. Rachel, my best friend, is a Protestant. Did they think I was going to turn around and thank them for taking my best friend's life? I would make them suffer as much as the people of Omagh have been suffering every hour of every day."
Last week, Katherine and Rachel were among the injured and families of the bereaved, who met US President Bill Clinton at Omagh Leisure Centre.
The young woman was impressed by the humanity of the beleaguered President and Tony Blair and how much their private personalities differed from the public faces they present to the world.
"President Clinton spent a great deal of time with the bereaved families. When they were telling their stories, you could see it really got to him. He was very touched and Hillary was crying. There was a difference between the man in that hall and the man making the speech in Armagh.
And she praised Secretary of State Mo Mowlam who has promised to attend her wedding which has been re-scheduled for July 31.
"She stayed there for an hour and a half, long after the others had left. She was just brilliant. She didn't have to ask your name twice. She remembered me in the hospital and that I was getting married in three weeks time and she wanted me to let her know when the wedding would be."
Looking around that hall, at the injured and those whose lives had been torn apart by the blast, Katherine's mind went back to the awful events of August 15 when 29 people lost their lives. She felt a deep bond with those people with whom she had shared a horrific experience.
"There were people in the hall that I remembered from that Saturday. Everyone of us has something in common and everyone will keep in touch," she said.
The day of the bomb, Katherine was in town for an afternoon appointment. She went into the restaurant where Rachel works as a waitress, to have a cup of coffee and to write out some wedding invitations.
While she was there, someone came into the restaurant to tell them to get out because of a warning that a bomb had been placed at the courthouse.
The two friends were standing at the bottom of the street outside McElroy's shoe shop when the bomb exploded.
Apart from the shock of the blast, the first thing she remembered was an eerie silence.
"I remember everything was so quiet for about 20 seconds then bits of building came down. Everything happened in slow motion.
"I remember looking around in the direction of Campsie and all I could think was to run. I didn't even think of my best friend," said Katherine.
"When I went to use my right leg, I fell down. I thought my leg had been blown off. I lifted my dress and saw my foot hanging.
A long piece of shrapnel was stuck at the top of my thigh.
"I looked and saw Rachel sitting up. I was shouting at her to talk to me. She can't remember speaking back.
As well as breaking her foot, Katherine lost a lot of blood and was just released from the Ulster Hospital a couple of days before the President's visit.
"I was conscious through the whole lot. I was thinking, don't go to sleep. All I could think of was my mum. It was a week ago that my granny had died and I thought my mum would go crackers if anything happened to me.
Like the rest of the injured, Katherine and Rachel will undergo counselling to help them through the emotional trauma of the bombing and its aftermath.
The enormity of what happened struck Katherine when she lay in her hospital bed watching funeral after funeral on television.
"I thought I was so lucky I was able to open my eyes that day. I kept thinking it could have been me."
"When I came home, I got a lot of visitors but when I'm alone I think, 'what if my best friend hadn't made it?' I just can't believe it happened. A lot of innocent people were taken and for what?"
She believes that many of the injured feel a common sense of guilt that they survived while so many others perished in the bomb.
"Last Thursday, when the President was there, I was looking around the table in front of me at the bereaved. I could imagine my parents sitting around that table."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/294
Published Date: 12-Sep-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.