TRAUMA OF OMAGH FAMILIES DEVASTATING
Trauma of Omagh families 'devastating'
BY ALAN ERWIN
SOME relatives of Omagh bomb victims have slipped into such deep depressions they will probably never make a full recovery, a top psychiatrist warned yesterday.
Giving evidence at the High Court civil trial of five men blamed for the atrocity, Dr Nicholas Cooling revealed many family members have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood swings and heavy alcohol dependency.
His assessment is that Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aiden in the August, 1998 terrorist attack - and now fronts the Omagh victims' campaign - has become so preoccupied with all the "twists and turns" in the case that it has gradually become his life.
Dr Cooling told the hearing in Belfast: "He's never really come out of it. Unfortunately, he's gone into a chronic form of depression.
"I think unfortunately Mr Gallagher's prognosis is (he's) not going to respond to treatment. He's had a devastatingly bad outcome."
The consultant psychiatrist, who also prepared reports on those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough stadium disaster, was giving testimony after the families themselves had laid bare their personal torment.
Questioned by Brett Lockhart, QC, for the Omagh relatives seeking multi-million pounds' damages from Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus McKenna, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly, Dr Cooling claimed the counselling offered to Mr Gallagher and others had little value.
He said: "It's not a treatment. Counselling is something you can provide for patients to give vent to their feelings, but it's not a direct form of psychotherapy. Unfortunately, none of these people had an effective psychotherapy intervention."
Another of those still gripped by depression is Stanley McComb, whose wife Anne, 48, was killed in the blast.
Mr McComb, who rushed home from a pipe band competition in Scotland after hearing of the explosion, was traumatised by the scenes of devastation he encountered and still struggles to cope with looking after his two sons, the witness said.
"One of the reasons Mr McComb was so traumatised was he took the blame himself for the fact he wasn't in Omagh when the bomb went off. He felt guilty that he hadn't been there.
"He saw her facial injuries and was absolutely horrified by what he saw. She was very badly damaged. Physically seeing the injuries was an additional traumatising event."
One of the most tragic cases, in Dr Cooling's view, is that of Ann Wilson, whose 15-year-old daughter Lorraine died at Omagh.
Diagnosed with PTSD and avoidance behaviour, the court heard how her level of distress made her difficult to interview.
"She's like a shell of a woman. She's not emotionally there to some extent. She lives at home, she tends to drink wine to get to sleep and she has a tenuous outlook with the outside world. She's really a tragic lady and there's quite a bad outlook," Dr Cooling said.
Another of Mrs Wilson's children, Colin, was just 10 years old when he was confronted with horrific images after riding his bike into Omagh after the bomb to search for his sister, but the consultant was "delighted" with the progress of a "very impressive young man".
Marion Radford, whose son Alan, 16, was a bomb victim, had developed PTSD compounded by how close she was to the explosion.
Dr Cooling said: "The tragedy for her was at the time she was caught up in the bomb she was going through a period of quite marked stability in her life.
"She was an unlucky lady. Yes, she had problems in her life in the past and been on anti-depressants, but she was in a very happy phase of her life."
The trial continues.
BY ALAN ERWIN
SOME relatives of Omagh bomb victims have slipped into such deep depressions they will probably never make a full recovery, a top psychiatrist warned yesterday.
Giving evidence at the High Court civil trial of five men blamed for the atrocity, Dr Nicholas Cooling revealed many family members have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood swings and heavy alcohol dependency.
His assessment is that Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aiden in the August, 1998 terrorist attack - and now fronts the Omagh victims' campaign - has become so preoccupied with all the "twists and turns" in the case that it has gradually become his life.
Dr Cooling told the hearing in Belfast: "He's never really come out of it. Unfortunately, he's gone into a chronic form of depression.
"I think unfortunately Mr Gallagher's prognosis is (he's) not going to respond to treatment. He's had a devastatingly bad outcome."
The consultant psychiatrist, who also prepared reports on those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough stadium disaster, was giving testimony after the families themselves had laid bare their personal torment.
Questioned by Brett Lockhart, QC, for the Omagh relatives seeking multi-million pounds' damages from Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus McKenna, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly, Dr Cooling claimed the counselling offered to Mr Gallagher and others had little value.
He said: "It's not a treatment. Counselling is something you can provide for patients to give vent to their feelings, but it's not a direct form of psychotherapy. Unfortunately, none of these people had an effective psychotherapy intervention."
Another of those still gripped by depression is Stanley McComb, whose wife Anne, 48, was killed in the blast.
Mr McComb, who rushed home from a pipe band competition in Scotland after hearing of the explosion, was traumatised by the scenes of devastation he encountered and still struggles to cope with looking after his two sons, the witness said.
"One of the reasons Mr McComb was so traumatised was he took the blame himself for the fact he wasn't in Omagh when the bomb went off. He felt guilty that he hadn't been there.
"He saw her facial injuries and was absolutely horrified by what he saw. She was very badly damaged. Physically seeing the injuries was an additional traumatising event."
One of the most tragic cases, in Dr Cooling's view, is that of Ann Wilson, whose 15-year-old daughter Lorraine died at Omagh.
Diagnosed with PTSD and avoidance behaviour, the court heard how her level of distress made her difficult to interview.
"She's like a shell of a woman. She's not emotionally there to some extent. She lives at home, she tends to drink wine to get to sleep and she has a tenuous outlook with the outside world. She's really a tragic lady and there's quite a bad outlook," Dr Cooling said.
Another of Mrs Wilson's children, Colin, was just 10 years old when he was confronted with horrific images after riding his bike into Omagh after the bomb to search for his sister, but the consultant was "delighted" with the progress of a "very impressive young man".
Marion Radford, whose son Alan, 16, was a bomb victim, had developed PTSD compounded by how close she was to the explosion.
Dr Cooling said: "The tragedy for her was at the time she was caught up in the bomb she was going through a period of quite marked stability in her life.
"She was an unlucky lady. Yes, she had problems in her life in the past and been on anti-depressants, but she was in a very happy phase of her life."
The trial continues.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/757
Published Date: 06-Jun-08
Related Images
