STUDIOUS VICTIM WAS AWAITING GCSE RESULTS
Studious' victim was awaiting GCSE results
AMONG those murdered in Saturday's bombing was a 16-year-old environmentally conscious schoolboy.
And his brother has told how, in the frantic search for him, he found his mother, bleeding from wounds received in the explosion, in Tyrone County Hospital's A & E department.
The teenager who died was Alan Radford, a year-12 pupil of Omagh High School at Crevenagh Road. It is thought he suffered horrendous shrapnel wounds.
According to his principal, Mr. Bill Harper, Alan was "a lively, active boy, who was very active in keeping the school litter-free", and who was due to receive his GCSE results on Tuesday.
He had gone into the town centre as usual on Saturday with his mother, Marion, to help with the family shopping, but had momentarily left her side to make some purchases of his own.
It is understood he was on his own at the corner of Market Street and Dublin Road, when the bomb exploded, killing him instantly.
"I am glad he died instantly and that he didn't know anything, because he was a very gentle lad who hated the sight of blood," said 29-year-old brother, Paul.
Paul went on to describe how the family had hoped against hope that Alan would turn up safe and well, of how expectations were raised and then dashed again, and how it was 24 hours before the gruesome truth was finally revealed.
He said he had searched Tyrone County Hospital wards, after leaving home immediately he had heard the explosion, initially heading in the direction of Lisanelly Barracks, which he thought might have been the terrorists' target.
It was only when he got to the hospital, along with a friend, that he realised his family had been involved.
'Crying'
"I saw my mum in casualty. She was bleeding and crying, and screamed at me, 'where's Alan'," said Paul.
After comforting his mother and helping her to the outpatients' department, where the less seriously injured were being cared for, he promised to find his younger brother.
Paul and his friend then helped casualties arriving at the hospital. He estimated they took about 40 people off buses, hoping his brother would be among them.
But Paul never saw Alan again until, as he described in his own words: "They pulled the sheet back, and I saw his wee face.
"His eyes were open and he looked stunned. He had this awful look of amazement in his eyes. That's how he died, wondering what in God's earth had happened to him."
Paul had gone to the makeshift morgue with one of his sisters and two friends, and said he saw the body of his younger brother, "an innocent lad, involved in nothing".
The older brother admitted his hopes had begun to fade the previous day, when the continual updating of lists at the incident centre at Omagh Leisure Complex failed to carry Alan's name.
He then decided to go to the temporary morgue at Lisanelly but was refused admission, and said he had to wait another 10 hours or more before a friend called with him on Sunday at about 10am to reveal the death of his brother.
The waiting was unbearable, according to Paul, who went on: "Alan died at the scene, but it took all that time for us to find out. We heard at 6am on Sunday that he may be dead, but that was not official. We will never get over this."
In addition to Paul and his mother, Marion, Alan is also survived by his father, Melvin, and sisters, Elaine, Carol, Lynne, and Claire. The family live at Castleview Park, Mullaghmore, in Omagh.
Speaking on Tuesday from Sheffield, Alan's uncle and aunt, John and Beryl Bowler, revealed how Melvin, who had worked for the security forces in Northern Ireland, had fled the Province, after a bomb attack had left him in fear of his life.
They said he had never seen his youngest son alive since then, but would defy the terrorists and return for his funeral.
Mrs. Bowler said: "He has been utterly destroyed by this. He has had so much happen to him, and now this on top - he is heartbroken.
"I was with him when he heard the news about Alan, and all he could say was, 'I can't take any more'. But I know that he just wants peace as well; he wants it all to end. The difference is that after everything he has been through he cannot believe it will happen."
The Bowlers said Alan had been expecting to visit his father for the first time in five years after receiving his examination results. They said he was a quiet, home-loving boy, a very studious person, who never got into any trouble.
"He had no time for the Troubles and the politics, he did not want to know," said Mrs. Bowler, of Warminster Road, Norton Lees.
She went on: "It is so important, as people look at what has happened, that they realise peace still has to be the priority, and there is no way things can go on without that. Peace has to come more than ever now.
"I do not think this will have done the warmongers any good, for, for the majority of Irish people, it will have made them more determined to reach a peace.
"I feel no anger, just great sadness, and if Alan is to rest, then that is how it must be."
AMONG those murdered in Saturday's bombing was a 16-year-old environmentally conscious schoolboy.
And his brother has told how, in the frantic search for him, he found his mother, bleeding from wounds received in the explosion, in Tyrone County Hospital's A & E department.
The teenager who died was Alan Radford, a year-12 pupil of Omagh High School at Crevenagh Road. It is thought he suffered horrendous shrapnel wounds.
According to his principal, Mr. Bill Harper, Alan was "a lively, active boy, who was very active in keeping the school litter-free", and who was due to receive his GCSE results on Tuesday.
He had gone into the town centre as usual on Saturday with his mother, Marion, to help with the family shopping, but had momentarily left her side to make some purchases of his own.
It is understood he was on his own at the corner of Market Street and Dublin Road, when the bomb exploded, killing him instantly.
"I am glad he died instantly and that he didn't know anything, because he was a very gentle lad who hated the sight of blood," said 29-year-old brother, Paul.
Paul went on to describe how the family had hoped against hope that Alan would turn up safe and well, of how expectations were raised and then dashed again, and how it was 24 hours before the gruesome truth was finally revealed.
He said he had searched Tyrone County Hospital wards, after leaving home immediately he had heard the explosion, initially heading in the direction of Lisanelly Barracks, which he thought might have been the terrorists' target.
It was only when he got to the hospital, along with a friend, that he realised his family had been involved.
'Crying'
"I saw my mum in casualty. She was bleeding and crying, and screamed at me, 'where's Alan'," said Paul.
After comforting his mother and helping her to the outpatients' department, where the less seriously injured were being cared for, he promised to find his younger brother.
Paul and his friend then helped casualties arriving at the hospital. He estimated they took about 40 people off buses, hoping his brother would be among them.
But Paul never saw Alan again until, as he described in his own words: "They pulled the sheet back, and I saw his wee face.
"His eyes were open and he looked stunned. He had this awful look of amazement in his eyes. That's how he died, wondering what in God's earth had happened to him."
Paul had gone to the makeshift morgue with one of his sisters and two friends, and said he saw the body of his younger brother, "an innocent lad, involved in nothing".
The older brother admitted his hopes had begun to fade the previous day, when the continual updating of lists at the incident centre at Omagh Leisure Complex failed to carry Alan's name.
He then decided to go to the temporary morgue at Lisanelly but was refused admission, and said he had to wait another 10 hours or more before a friend called with him on Sunday at about 10am to reveal the death of his brother.
The waiting was unbearable, according to Paul, who went on: "Alan died at the scene, but it took all that time for us to find out. We heard at 6am on Sunday that he may be dead, but that was not official. We will never get over this."
In addition to Paul and his mother, Marion, Alan is also survived by his father, Melvin, and sisters, Elaine, Carol, Lynne, and Claire. The family live at Castleview Park, Mullaghmore, in Omagh.
Speaking on Tuesday from Sheffield, Alan's uncle and aunt, John and Beryl Bowler, revealed how Melvin, who had worked for the security forces in Northern Ireland, had fled the Province, after a bomb attack had left him in fear of his life.
They said he had never seen his youngest son alive since then, but would defy the terrorists and return for his funeral.
Mrs. Bowler said: "He has been utterly destroyed by this. He has had so much happen to him, and now this on top - he is heartbroken.
"I was with him when he heard the news about Alan, and all he could say was, 'I can't take any more'. But I know that he just wants peace as well; he wants it all to end. The difference is that after everything he has been through he cannot believe it will happen."
The Bowlers said Alan had been expecting to visit his father for the first time in five years after receiving his examination results. They said he was a quiet, home-loving boy, a very studious person, who never got into any trouble.
"He had no time for the Troubles and the politics, he did not want to know," said Mrs. Bowler, of Warminster Road, Norton Lees.
She went on: "It is so important, as people look at what has happened, that they realise peace still has to be the priority, and there is no way things can go on without that. Peace has to come more than ever now.
"I do not think this will have done the warmongers any good, for, for the majority of Irish people, it will have made them more determined to reach a peace.
"I feel no anger, just great sadness, and if Alan is to rest, then that is how it must be."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0076
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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