OMAGH BOMB VICTIM PLEADS FOR CONTROL OF FIREWORKS
Omagh bomb victim pleads for control of fireworks
Guide dog Benny petrified
BY ROSETTA DONNELLY
THE young Omagh teenager who was blinded in the Omagh bomb has just graduated with a 2:1 honours from university but she said the one thing which made it all possible was her faithful guidedog Benny.
Claire Gallagher was just 15 when the Omagh bomb exploded and plunged her world into darkness. She had to finish the remainder of her school days at the Loreto Grammar with the help of her mother Marie and her close friends.
Her passionate love of music lead to her being offered a place at Queens University to study music, an offer which she wished to take up but she and her family knew that the support network which Claire had enjoyed in her home town of Omagh would not be there in Belfast. And that was when Benny came into her life.
A blind person must be eighteen before being considered and Claire applied almost immediately. Assessments by the Guide Dog organisation followed both of herself and the dog to ensure a perfect match.
Claire said "Things like my height were taken into consideration. I also walk very fast and so I needed a dog suited to that purpose.
"I then had to go through training in Belfast and in Omagh to familiarise Benny and me with the routes and so that I could learn the commands."
BEST FRIENDS
Claire has just returned from completing university and hoping to going to Edinburgh to do music therapy as she has decided that this is what she wants to do. She said Benny and her have become best friends and she said it pains her Halloween as he is "petrified of fireworks".
She said he gets so agitated. "I do not take him out for a walk at Halloween as he is so scared when he hears the bangs. Even when he is in the house he whines and he does not want to move".
Claire supports fully the Guide Dogs Association's fight to have fireworks regulated. She added her signature to 130,000 signatures others which made up a petition which was handed into the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.
A spokesperson for Guide Dogs said "Whilst keen to protect the rights of the public to sensibly enjoy fireworks, we don't feel that the regulations go far enough. Guide Dogs has called upon the government to mount a high profile education campaign to encourage the public to use fireworks responsibly, thereby reducing the distress caused to our guide dog owners and their dogs."
Guide dog Benny petrified
BY ROSETTA DONNELLY
THE young Omagh teenager who was blinded in the Omagh bomb has just graduated with a 2:1 honours from university but she said the one thing which made it all possible was her faithful guidedog Benny.
Claire Gallagher was just 15 when the Omagh bomb exploded and plunged her world into darkness. She had to finish the remainder of her school days at the Loreto Grammar with the help of her mother Marie and her close friends.
Her passionate love of music lead to her being offered a place at Queens University to study music, an offer which she wished to take up but she and her family knew that the support network which Claire had enjoyed in her home town of Omagh would not be there in Belfast. And that was when Benny came into her life.
A blind person must be eighteen before being considered and Claire applied almost immediately. Assessments by the Guide Dog organisation followed both of herself and the dog to ensure a perfect match.
Claire said "Things like my height were taken into consideration. I also walk very fast and so I needed a dog suited to that purpose.
"I then had to go through training in Belfast and in Omagh to familiarise Benny and me with the routes and so that I could learn the commands."
BEST FRIENDS
Claire has just returned from completing university and hoping to going to Edinburgh to do music therapy as she has decided that this is what she wants to do. She said Benny and her have become best friends and she said it pains her Halloween as he is "petrified of fireworks".
She said he gets so agitated. "I do not take him out for a walk at Halloween as he is so scared when he hears the bangs. Even when he is in the house he whines and he does not want to move".
Claire supports fully the Guide Dogs Association's fight to have fireworks regulated. She added her signature to 130,000 signatures others which made up a petition which was handed into the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.
A spokesperson for Guide Dogs said "Whilst keen to protect the rights of the public to sensibly enjoy fireworks, we don't feel that the regulations go far enough. Guide Dogs has called upon the government to mount a high profile education campaign to encourage the public to use fireworks responsibly, thereby reducing the distress caused to our guide dog owners and their dogs."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1790
Published Date: 28-Oct-04
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