I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL I LOST MY UNCLE TO TERRORISTS
I know how you feel�I lost my uncle to terrorists
By Nic North
Charles in message to victims
PRINCE Charles met the people of Omagh yesterday and tried to mend their broken hearts.
The Prince of Wales offered words of comfort to the grieving townsfolk.
He told one woman, who lost her cousin in Saturday's massacre, how he knew how she felt, because he too had had a loved one snatched from him by the terrorists - his uncle, Lord Mountbatten.
Charles even handpicked flowers from his cherished gardens at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire, and placed them at the site where the bomb exploded.
He had brought the flowers with him from the estate.
During a visit to the town centre, Prince Charles talked to locals as he walked down Market Street, still scarred by the bomb blast.
Before inspecting the spot where the bomb exploded, he spoke to a dozen local people, including those who lost friends and relatives.
Explosion
Joy Camley, injured by flying glass in the explosion, told him her cousin had not been so lucky and had died in the blast.
Mrs Camley told him she had been sitting in a coffee shop when the bomb went off.
After his conversation with Prince Charles, she said: "He asked me if anyone else in my family had been injured and I told him that my cousin had been killed.
"He said to me that he knew exactly how I felt. He said it is just like I felt after the death of Lord Mountbatten'."
Jim Sharkey his right arm still in a sling after it was broken by the blast, had been standing in a doorway of a newsagents when the bomb went off.
He told the Prince that the force of the blast had blown a man standing nearby off his feet and he had landed on top of him.
Collette Maguire thanked Prince Charles for coming to Omagh. She said she had been shopping in town on the day of the blast but had not been injured.
A couple, Cecil and Elizabeth Brown, were asked by the Prince if they knew anyone who had died in the explosion.
They told him two teenage girls they knew well had been killed.
The couple had known the dead girls through church connections.
The Prince told them: "Let us hope this is the last of it."
Rita Flanagan pleaded with the Prince to "please do all you can to ensure our hospital is not closed down because of cuts in the budgets".
She added: "This tragedy has shown we need it."
The Tyrone County Hospital, which the Prince was later to visit and meet the 15 blast victims, has been threatened with closure. Another local, Elizabeth Roache, was told by the Prince that the people of the town had his deepest sympathies. He then walked to the Watterson's drapery shop where three members of staff had been killed. He walked to the spot where the bomb exploded and placed his flowers on the ground.
A card, handwritten by the Prince and attached to the flowers, read: "With my deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers. Charles."
By Nic North
Charles in message to victims
PRINCE Charles met the people of Omagh yesterday and tried to mend their broken hearts.
The Prince of Wales offered words of comfort to the grieving townsfolk.
He told one woman, who lost her cousin in Saturday's massacre, how he knew how she felt, because he too had had a loved one snatched from him by the terrorists - his uncle, Lord Mountbatten.
Charles even handpicked flowers from his cherished gardens at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire, and placed them at the site where the bomb exploded.
He had brought the flowers with him from the estate.
During a visit to the town centre, Prince Charles talked to locals as he walked down Market Street, still scarred by the bomb blast.
Before inspecting the spot where the bomb exploded, he spoke to a dozen local people, including those who lost friends and relatives.
Explosion
Joy Camley, injured by flying glass in the explosion, told him her cousin had not been so lucky and had died in the blast.
Mrs Camley told him she had been sitting in a coffee shop when the bomb went off.
After his conversation with Prince Charles, she said: "He asked me if anyone else in my family had been injured and I told him that my cousin had been killed.
"He said to me that he knew exactly how I felt. He said it is just like I felt after the death of Lord Mountbatten'."
Jim Sharkey his right arm still in a sling after it was broken by the blast, had been standing in a doorway of a newsagents when the bomb went off.
He told the Prince that the force of the blast had blown a man standing nearby off his feet and he had landed on top of him.
Collette Maguire thanked Prince Charles for coming to Omagh. She said she had been shopping in town on the day of the blast but had not been injured.
A couple, Cecil and Elizabeth Brown, were asked by the Prince if they knew anyone who had died in the explosion.
They told him two teenage girls they knew well had been killed.
The couple had known the dead girls through church connections.
The Prince told them: "Let us hope this is the last of it."
Rita Flanagan pleaded with the Prince to "please do all you can to ensure our hospital is not closed down because of cuts in the budgets".
She added: "This tragedy has shown we need it."
The Tyrone County Hospital, which the Prince was later to visit and meet the 15 blast victims, has been threatened with closure. Another local, Elizabeth Roache, was told by the Prince that the people of the town had his deepest sympathies. He then walked to the Watterson's drapery shop where three members of staff had been killed. He walked to the spot where the bomb exploded and placed his flowers on the ground.
A card, handwritten by the Prince and attached to the flowers, read: "With my deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers. Charles."
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/049
Published Date: 19-Aug-98
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