YOUNG COUPLE SO THANKFUL TO BE ALIVE
Young Couple so thankful to be alive
A YOUNG OMAGH woman cruelly robbed of her precious fairytale wedding day memories, takes comfort from the fact that she and her husband both escaped without serious injury from the town's horrific bomb.
The blast ripped through Omagh with horrendous mutilation of life and property and stole the irreplaceable lives of 29 people on August 15th.
22-year-old Tracy Williams married her sweetheart Damian Kelly (25) from Strathroy, two weeks prior to the bomb. And on that fateful day they had gone into town as a happy newly married couple to purchase items for their new home.
"To start married life like this, when we were looking so much to the future with so much hope, is unforgivable" said Tracy, who described her feelings as "a nightmare which won't go away".
A few days earlier they had returned from a romantic two week honeymoon in the sun and were feeling on top of the world. They were happy and proud at how well the wedding had gone.
Tracy had meticulously planned for the big day for two years and she had drawn up every detail with the finest precision. She had even designed her own wedding dress.
It was also a dream come true to be married on her father's 40th birthday and recalled Tracy "it was the best and most romantic day of my life".
Now she can barely look at her Wedding Day photographs without feeling a great sense of sadness and grief. "I just fill up and cry when I see so many people from the wedding, all looking so happy and smiling".
Tracy lost one of her best friends in the blast, Deborah Anne Cartwright, 20-years-old from Omagh.
"It was the first time I had seen her since I married and we were joking about her not being at my wedding. Deborah Anne had been on holidays at the time and we were talking about 15 to 20 minutes before the bomb went off" recalled Tracy.
"I never thought that would be the last time I would see her. She was a great friend and was always there for me" added Tracy.
Still mentally scarred by the bomb, Tracy knows that she and her husband are two of the lucky ones.
"At least we still have each other. A lot of people are left with just memories. It is just so hard to believe. Just two weeks earlier we were so happy and had celebrated the best day of our lives. But when I look back at the wedding photographs I just fill up and cry. I feel a sense of guilt looking at the happy pictures when so many lives were lost in the bomb which caused so much grief."
Tracy a student nurse, had arranged to meet her steel fitter husband in town at 3.30 pm on that fateful day. He was going to a match in the Leisure Centre but she later learned the fixture had been postponed.
"I wondered where he was as I talked to a friend at lower Market Street. Suddenly the explosion occurred and the lad I was talking to was blown to the ground beside me".
Tracy received a knock to the head in the blast, and realising there was nothing she could do made her way down to her Campsie home - hoping that her husband would be there.
However, it was not until over an agonising hour later, that the couple were reunited. Damian had sustained shrapnel wounds to his lower leg and bruises to the knee. His eardrum was also perforated in the blast as he stood outside one of the shops looking for a glimpse of his wife.
"I was numbed with shock when Damian eventually turned up. There was only one leg left on his jeans and I initially feared the worse.
The emotional trauma of the newly married couple will take time to heal but as Tracy says "at least we have each other"
And her simple philosophy is to live for today think of tomorrow and remember yesterday.
A YOUNG OMAGH woman cruelly robbed of her precious fairytale wedding day memories, takes comfort from the fact that she and her husband both escaped without serious injury from the town's horrific bomb.
The blast ripped through Omagh with horrendous mutilation of life and property and stole the irreplaceable lives of 29 people on August 15th.
22-year-old Tracy Williams married her sweetheart Damian Kelly (25) from Strathroy, two weeks prior to the bomb. And on that fateful day they had gone into town as a happy newly married couple to purchase items for their new home.
"To start married life like this, when we were looking so much to the future with so much hope, is unforgivable" said Tracy, who described her feelings as "a nightmare which won't go away".
A few days earlier they had returned from a romantic two week honeymoon in the sun and were feeling on top of the world. They were happy and proud at how well the wedding had gone.
Tracy had meticulously planned for the big day for two years and she had drawn up every detail with the finest precision. She had even designed her own wedding dress.
It was also a dream come true to be married on her father's 40th birthday and recalled Tracy "it was the best and most romantic day of my life".
Now she can barely look at her Wedding Day photographs without feeling a great sense of sadness and grief. "I just fill up and cry when I see so many people from the wedding, all looking so happy and smiling".
Tracy lost one of her best friends in the blast, Deborah Anne Cartwright, 20-years-old from Omagh.
"It was the first time I had seen her since I married and we were joking about her not being at my wedding. Deborah Anne had been on holidays at the time and we were talking about 15 to 20 minutes before the bomb went off" recalled Tracy.
"I never thought that would be the last time I would see her. She was a great friend and was always there for me" added Tracy.
Still mentally scarred by the bomb, Tracy knows that she and her husband are two of the lucky ones.
"At least we still have each other. A lot of people are left with just memories. It is just so hard to believe. Just two weeks earlier we were so happy and had celebrated the best day of our lives. But when I look back at the wedding photographs I just fill up and cry. I feel a sense of guilt looking at the happy pictures when so many lives were lost in the bomb which caused so much grief."
Tracy a student nurse, had arranged to meet her steel fitter husband in town at 3.30 pm on that fateful day. He was going to a match in the Leisure Centre but she later learned the fixture had been postponed.
"I wondered where he was as I talked to a friend at lower Market Street. Suddenly the explosion occurred and the lad I was talking to was blown to the ground beside me".
Tracy received a knock to the head in the blast, and realising there was nothing she could do made her way down to her Campsie home - hoping that her husband would be there.
However, it was not until over an agonising hour later, that the couple were reunited. Damian had sustained shrapnel wounds to his lower leg and bruises to the knee. His eardrum was also perforated in the blast as he stood outside one of the shops looking for a glimpse of his wife.
"I was numbed with shock when Damian eventually turned up. There was only one leg left on his jeans and I initially feared the worse.
The emotional trauma of the newly married couple will take time to heal but as Tracy says "at least we have each other"
And her simple philosophy is to live for today think of tomorrow and remember yesterday.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1136
Published Date: 17-Sep-98
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