HERO OF OMAGH SAVED MY LIFE
Hero of Omagh saved my life
By CLARE COLLINS
A POLICEMAN yesterday told how he saved the life of Omagh bomb victim Pauline Green.
Constable Gary McClatchey was close to tears as he described how the Co Tyrone town turned into a battleground after the Real IRA bomb blast in August 1998.
He had finished his RUC training just 12 weeks before the explosion.
He told the inquest: "Men and women were crying, soaked in blood, calling out to me.
"I saw a male person lying face-up in the middle of the road.
"He appeared dead.
"And I saw a burning engine block and ran to it and saw a young girl with long hair trapped under it."
He and several colleagues removed the engine and freed Pauline, then aged 19.
She spent more than four months in hospital recovering from her injuries and had part of a leg amputated.
On being released from hospital, Pauline said: "The young policeman who lifted the engine block off me saved my life.
"I could never thank him enough."
By CLARE COLLINS
A POLICEMAN yesterday told how he saved the life of Omagh bomb victim Pauline Green.
Constable Gary McClatchey was close to tears as he described how the Co Tyrone town turned into a battleground after the Real IRA bomb blast in August 1998.
He had finished his RUC training just 12 weeks before the explosion.
He told the inquest: "Men and women were crying, soaked in blood, calling out to me.
"I saw a male person lying face-up in the middle of the road.
"He appeared dead.
"And I saw a burning engine block and ran to it and saw a young girl with long hair trapped under it."
He and several colleagues removed the engine and freed Pauline, then aged 19.
She spent more than four months in hospital recovering from her injuries and had part of a leg amputated.
On being released from hospital, Pauline said: "The young policeman who lifted the engine block off me saved my life.
"I could never thank him enough."
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/118
Published Date: 12-Sep-00
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