DENISE I'M JUST SO LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
Denise: I'm just so lucky to be alive
From STEPHEN MOYES in Madrid and JANE KERR
DENISE Gilroy felt the blast and heat as it seared the air from her lungs.
Her eyes opened, focusing on the teenage girl sitting opposite on the train who had been listening to her Walkman.
The music was still playing. But the youngster who a moment earlier was humming along to the track was now dead.
Her head was thrown back, her eyes were wide open, her earphones were on the floor.
Belfast-born Denise, speaking from her bed in the Gregorio Maranon Hospital, finds breathing difficult. Her lungs ache, her back is agony, the rest of her body is numb.
But the teacher, 52, who moved to Spain 22 years ago, is one of the lucky ones.
She said: "I opened my eyes and everyone around me was dead. I think I was the only one in my carriage to survive.
"I was the only one still in my seat. Bodies were piled on the floor and some had gone through the window. There was glass everywhere. And blood, lots of blood. Why did I survive? I'm so lucky."
Denise began catching the Madrid-bound train to work only 10 days ago at the suggestion of German husband Norbert.
She jumped on the bomb train as it was pulling out: "I walked through each carriage until I was nearly at the front and found a seat. I don't know why I chose the one I did. Another would have cost my life."
She telephoned her mother Nancy, 80 - who lives in Belfast - from hospital.
OMAGH bomb relatives will hold a service to remember the Madrid dead in the town's memorial garden.
Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aidan in the 1998 blast, invited the public to tomorrow's inter-denominational service.
He said: "There's not a lot we can do, but we can come together in prayer and send the message to them that they are not alone"
Hundreds of people yesterday signed a book of condolences set up in Belfast City Hall.
From STEPHEN MOYES in Madrid and JANE KERR
DENISE Gilroy felt the blast and heat as it seared the air from her lungs.
Her eyes opened, focusing on the teenage girl sitting opposite on the train who had been listening to her Walkman.
The music was still playing. But the youngster who a moment earlier was humming along to the track was now dead.
Her head was thrown back, her eyes were wide open, her earphones were on the floor.
Belfast-born Denise, speaking from her bed in the Gregorio Maranon Hospital, finds breathing difficult. Her lungs ache, her back is agony, the rest of her body is numb.
But the teacher, 52, who moved to Spain 22 years ago, is one of the lucky ones.
She said: "I opened my eyes and everyone around me was dead. I think I was the only one in my carriage to survive.
"I was the only one still in my seat. Bodies were piled on the floor and some had gone through the window. There was glass everywhere. And blood, lots of blood. Why did I survive? I'm so lucky."
Denise began catching the Madrid-bound train to work only 10 days ago at the suggestion of German husband Norbert.
She jumped on the bomb train as it was pulling out: "I walked through each carriage until I was nearly at the front and found a seat. I don't know why I chose the one I did. Another would have cost my life."
She telephoned her mother Nancy, 80 - who lives in Belfast - from hospital.
OMAGH bomb relatives will hold a service to remember the Madrid dead in the town's memorial garden.
Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aidan in the 1998 blast, invited the public to tomorrow's inter-denominational service.
He said: "There's not a lot we can do, but we can come together in prayer and send the message to them that they are not alone"
Hundreds of people yesterday signed a book of condolences set up in Belfast City Hall.
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/203
Published Date: 13-Mar-04
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