TV PROGRAMME EXPLORES COURAGE OF BOMB VICTIMS
TV programme explores courage of bomb victims
A PROGRAMME relating how bomb victims from Omagh, Antrim and Londonderry are dealing with their past and present experiences is to be shown on Monday at 7 pm on RTE One's 'Nationwide' show.
Alasdair Jackson explores the courage that they have shown and asks what it's like to live with an artificial limb.
Wendy Graham, who lost her left leg in the Omagh bombing last year, epitomises the bravery needed to recover both mentally and physically.
Wendy relates how the horrific events of August 15 were overshadowed by the news that her leg was to be amputated.
"I think that the day it was decided my foot had to be amputated was the worst day of my life. It was worse than the day of the bomb, it was worse than the few weeks which followed the bomb - it just came as such a blow," she says.
Despite the initial shock, Wendy is now doing well on her third artificial limb which incorporates an adjustable heel.
"It's brilliant," she says - a great testimony to the character she has shown over the past 16 months.
Mark Kelly, who manages Antrim Community Enterprises, lost both his legs in a pub bombing in Glengormley when he was 18.
Mark explains how his recovery from a "near-death experience" was made easier by his young age, when the no-warning pub bomb exploded in 1976.
Karen Shotter lost her left leg in a booby trap bombing in Derry in 1974. In June of this year, she had her right leg amputated after a quarter of a century of pain.
Karen describes the devastation she felt earlier this year: "I was stunned, I couldn't speak, I just came out of the doctor's office and went home and cried," she says.
All three are patients of Jim Mercer, a prosthetist at Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast. He has spent his 27 years at Musgrave helping amputees get back on the road to recovery and takes a 'holistic' approach to his work.
"You have to look at what these people want to do with their lives - if they have a hobby they want to continue with, you must take that into account," he explains.
The programme also highlights the improvements in artificial limbs over the years.
Roger Parke, a consultant in rehabilitation medicine at Musgrave Park Hospital, demonstrates how advances in artificial knees now makes going down steps much easier and safer for amputees.
A PROGRAMME relating how bomb victims from Omagh, Antrim and Londonderry are dealing with their past and present experiences is to be shown on Monday at 7 pm on RTE One's 'Nationwide' show.
Alasdair Jackson explores the courage that they have shown and asks what it's like to live with an artificial limb.
Wendy Graham, who lost her left leg in the Omagh bombing last year, epitomises the bravery needed to recover both mentally and physically.
Wendy relates how the horrific events of August 15 were overshadowed by the news that her leg was to be amputated.
"I think that the day it was decided my foot had to be amputated was the worst day of my life. It was worse than the day of the bomb, it was worse than the few weeks which followed the bomb - it just came as such a blow," she says.
Despite the initial shock, Wendy is now doing well on her third artificial limb which incorporates an adjustable heel.
"It's brilliant," she says - a great testimony to the character she has shown over the past 16 months.
Mark Kelly, who manages Antrim Community Enterprises, lost both his legs in a pub bombing in Glengormley when he was 18.
Mark explains how his recovery from a "near-death experience" was made easier by his young age, when the no-warning pub bomb exploded in 1976.
Karen Shotter lost her left leg in a booby trap bombing in Derry in 1974. In June of this year, she had her right leg amputated after a quarter of a century of pain.
Karen describes the devastation she felt earlier this year: "I was stunned, I couldn't speak, I just came out of the doctor's office and went home and cried," she says.
All three are patients of Jim Mercer, a prosthetist at Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast. He has spent his 27 years at Musgrave helping amputees get back on the road to recovery and takes a 'holistic' approach to his work.
"You have to look at what these people want to do with their lives - if they have a hobby they want to continue with, you must take that into account," he explains.
The programme also highlights the improvements in artificial limbs over the years.
Roger Parke, a consultant in rehabilitation medicine at Musgrave Park Hospital, demonstrates how advances in artificial knees now makes going down steps much easier and safer for amputees.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1412
Published Date: 11-Nov-99
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