SCHOOLBOY COULD HAVE SURVIVED
Schoolboy could have survived
By JOHN McCUSKER
THE life of Omagh bomb victim, James Barker could have been saved if he had been the only casualty hospital staff had to deal with on the day, his inquest has heard.
The 12-year-old schoolboy was one of three Buncrana children killed when a car bomb ripped through Market Street shoppers on the afternoon of August 15th, 1998. Two Spanish visitors who travelled with them to Omagh that day also died in the explosion.
Representing his son at the Inquest in Omagh's Leisure Centre, solicitor, Victor Barker said he had been greatly distressed to read transcripts of the injuries suffered by all those who died.
Dominic Pinto, consultant surgeon at Tyrone County Hospital told the Inquest how medics had battled to save the young boy's life, but because of the severity of his injuries this had not been possible.
Hospital records showed that James had been admitted to Ward 3 at 4.10pm, an hour after the explosion. The victim's blood pressure was low and he was in a semi-conscious state. An hour later, he was taken to ICU before undergoing surgery for severe abdominal injuries. However, he suffered a cardiac arrest and died a short time later.
Victor Barker enquired whether James would have had a greater chance of survival had he been operated on earlier, to which Mr Pinto
replied that if he had been the only patient in the hospital that afternoon his chances of survival would certainly have been much greater.
In his report, Deputy State Pathologist for Northern Ireland, Dr Derek Carson attributed James' death to the combined effects of severe internal injuries which suggested the boy had been blown against a solid object or hit by a large piece of the bombers' car.
It was impossible, he said, for him to put emphasis on the most severe of these injuries sustained.
RUC Constable Mark Benson told Coroner John Leckey how he had come across a young boy lying about eight feet from the remains of a burning car.
"I went to him and saw that he was still alive and was gasping to draw breath," he said.
Together with others, he helped comfort the boy until the arrival of paramedics. The officer then helped lift James onto a stretcher at which point he heard the boy moan.
The day after the explosion, Constable Benson was shown a photograph which he identified as the young victim.
In his own evidence Victor Barker described how his son had been with him on a fishing trip the day before he died. He had been due to caddy for him on a golfing outing on the day of the explosion. Instead, he had accompanied Spanish student, Lucrecia Baselga a sister of bomb victim, Fernando who had been staying with the Barkers, on a trip to Omagh.
He had breakfast with his son and then his wife, Donna Marie took James in the car to catch the bus in Buncrana.
Mr Barker said that after hearing of the incident, he had phoned all the hospitals in the North in an attempt to locate his son.
He blamed no one for what happened to James, "apart from the people who planted the bomb." And he also praised hospital staff who had treated James in the aftermath of the blast.
Extending sympathy to the Barker family, the Coroner said his verdict was that James had died as a result of injuries sustained in a bomb explosion. He added that he hoped evidence which emerged from the Inquest had been of some assistance in answering any questions which may have been troubling the family since James' death.
By JOHN McCUSKER
THE life of Omagh bomb victim, James Barker could have been saved if he had been the only casualty hospital staff had to deal with on the day, his inquest has heard.
The 12-year-old schoolboy was one of three Buncrana children killed when a car bomb ripped through Market Street shoppers on the afternoon of August 15th, 1998. Two Spanish visitors who travelled with them to Omagh that day also died in the explosion.
Representing his son at the Inquest in Omagh's Leisure Centre, solicitor, Victor Barker said he had been greatly distressed to read transcripts of the injuries suffered by all those who died.
Dominic Pinto, consultant surgeon at Tyrone County Hospital told the Inquest how medics had battled to save the young boy's life, but because of the severity of his injuries this had not been possible.
Hospital records showed that James had been admitted to Ward 3 at 4.10pm, an hour after the explosion. The victim's blood pressure was low and he was in a semi-conscious state. An hour later, he was taken to ICU before undergoing surgery for severe abdominal injuries. However, he suffered a cardiac arrest and died a short time later.
Victor Barker enquired whether James would have had a greater chance of survival had he been operated on earlier, to which Mr Pinto
replied that if he had been the only patient in the hospital that afternoon his chances of survival would certainly have been much greater.
In his report, Deputy State Pathologist for Northern Ireland, Dr Derek Carson attributed James' death to the combined effects of severe internal injuries which suggested the boy had been blown against a solid object or hit by a large piece of the bombers' car.
It was impossible, he said, for him to put emphasis on the most severe of these injuries sustained.
RUC Constable Mark Benson told Coroner John Leckey how he had come across a young boy lying about eight feet from the remains of a burning car.
"I went to him and saw that he was still alive and was gasping to draw breath," he said.
Together with others, he helped comfort the boy until the arrival of paramedics. The officer then helped lift James onto a stretcher at which point he heard the boy moan.
The day after the explosion, Constable Benson was shown a photograph which he identified as the young victim.
In his own evidence Victor Barker described how his son had been with him on a fishing trip the day before he died. He had been due to caddy for him on a golfing outing on the day of the explosion. Instead, he had accompanied Spanish student, Lucrecia Baselga a sister of bomb victim, Fernando who had been staying with the Barkers, on a trip to Omagh.
He had breakfast with his son and then his wife, Donna Marie took James in the car to catch the bus in Buncrana.
Mr Barker said that after hearing of the incident, he had phoned all the hospitals in the North in an attempt to locate his son.
He blamed no one for what happened to James, "apart from the people who planted the bomb." And he also praised hospital staff who had treated James in the aftermath of the blast.
Extending sympathy to the Barker family, the Coroner said his verdict was that James had died as a result of injuries sustained in a bomb explosion. He added that he hoped evidence which emerged from the Inquest had been of some assistance in answering any questions which may have been troubling the family since James' death.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1508
Published Date: 12-Oct-00
Related Images
