DEPTHS OF DESPAIR
Depths of despair
Omagh bomb parents describe grief and loss
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r.mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
GODFREY Wilson, who lost his daughter Lorraine in the Omagh bombing, has told a Belfast court how he contemplated committing suicide after his teenage daughter was killed.
Relatives of victims of the 1998 bomb attack have been giving powerful testimony at the civil action being brought against the alleged perpetrators of the atrocity that killed 29 people and unborn twins. The relatives are suing Michael McKevitt, Colm Murphy, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Seamus McKenna. All five deny liability.
Godfrey Wilson, the father of Lorraine Wilson, 16, fought back tears as he told the High Court about how he had contemplated suicide after her death.
"I drove to a local country road and drove like a lunatic hoping a tractor would come out in front of me," he said.
Mr Wilson spoke of seeing his daughter's body in a temporary morgue set up in the aftermath of the bomb. "She had head injuries. Her right eye was missing and (there was) a tear on the other eye. I took out a tissue and soaked it up and put it in my breast pocket. I still have it, that's the very little I have left of her." Mr Wilson also told the court how his family were so overwhelmed with grief that three of them thought about taking their own lives.
Before the bombing the court heard how he worked long hours to provide for his family, but afterwards the entire family struggled to cope with the weight of their grief. "I must have cried for three months. Sleeping was terrible. I couldn't get the morgue out my head," Mr Wilson said.
Questioned by Brett Lockhart QC, Mr Wilson said it was hard to remember the good times before the bomb. "1 can't see Lorraine's smiling face because it hurts me that I will never see it again," he said.
The first relative to give evidence, Mark Breslin told how he found his wife Geraldine, 43, in hospital among the dead and injured after the blast. In his harrowing testimony he told how he was brought to her bedside after learning her leg had been amputated.
"As I went towards her there were bandages on her face and a patch over one eye. Some of her teeth were missing. As I put my head over so she could see me, her eye that wasn't covered was kind of rolling around looking at the ceiling. But as I looked over she fixed her eye on me and realised who I was. Briefly she raised the energy to say a few words."
Questioned by Brett Lockhard QC, for the victims' families, whether he remembered what she said, he replied, "I am sorry."
Mr Breslin recalled feeling relieved that his wife was still alive as she was being flown to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital. "I had still this belief that she would survive. On the way back from the hospital pad I pressed the nurse as to how long Geraldine would be in Belfast. She had suggested maybe a couple of weeks." But when he arrived in Belfast that night a doctor broke the news that she had died.
He went on to explain that he had taken a lot of sick leave since his wife's death.
Marion Radford lost her 16-year-old son Alan. She told how her pain and suffering has been so great she sometimes no longer wants to go on living. Mrs Radford referred to her 'son and best friend' as she described how she had been separated from him when the bomb went off. She suffered head injuries but went looking for him amid the carnage. "There was terrible silence after the bomb then I heard screams," she said. "I was aware of bits of bodies on the ground but I didn't want to look."
She recalled further horrific scenes at the hospital as she looked for her son. It was the following day when the confirmation came that the teenager was among the dead, with the mother of six saying the reality only hit her when he was brought him home in a box. Mrs Radford spoke of the 'dreadful loneliness' she still endures and how she struggles to put out a front around people. "There are days I just don't want to live" she admitted. "I see my children suffer as well and that's hard for a mother."
Other relatives giving evidence spoke of insomnia, nightmares, heavy drinking and fraught personal relationships since the devastating Real IRA attack.
Among those to give evidence will be Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son Aiden, Stanley McCombe whose wife Anne died, as well as other relatives of teenagers Alan Radford and Lorraine Wilson and 36-year-old Esther Gibson.
Omagh bomb parents describe grief and loss
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r.mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
GODFREY Wilson, who lost his daughter Lorraine in the Omagh bombing, has told a Belfast court how he contemplated committing suicide after his teenage daughter was killed.
Relatives of victims of the 1998 bomb attack have been giving powerful testimony at the civil action being brought against the alleged perpetrators of the atrocity that killed 29 people and unborn twins. The relatives are suing Michael McKevitt, Colm Murphy, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Seamus McKenna. All five deny liability.
Godfrey Wilson, the father of Lorraine Wilson, 16, fought back tears as he told the High Court about how he had contemplated suicide after her death.
"I drove to a local country road and drove like a lunatic hoping a tractor would come out in front of me," he said.
Mr Wilson spoke of seeing his daughter's body in a temporary morgue set up in the aftermath of the bomb. "She had head injuries. Her right eye was missing and (there was) a tear on the other eye. I took out a tissue and soaked it up and put it in my breast pocket. I still have it, that's the very little I have left of her." Mr Wilson also told the court how his family were so overwhelmed with grief that three of them thought about taking their own lives.
Before the bombing the court heard how he worked long hours to provide for his family, but afterwards the entire family struggled to cope with the weight of their grief. "I must have cried for three months. Sleeping was terrible. I couldn't get the morgue out my head," Mr Wilson said.
Questioned by Brett Lockhart QC, Mr Wilson said it was hard to remember the good times before the bomb. "1 can't see Lorraine's smiling face because it hurts me that I will never see it again," he said.
The first relative to give evidence, Mark Breslin told how he found his wife Geraldine, 43, in hospital among the dead and injured after the blast. In his harrowing testimony he told how he was brought to her bedside after learning her leg had been amputated.
"As I went towards her there were bandages on her face and a patch over one eye. Some of her teeth were missing. As I put my head over so she could see me, her eye that wasn't covered was kind of rolling around looking at the ceiling. But as I looked over she fixed her eye on me and realised who I was. Briefly she raised the energy to say a few words."
Questioned by Brett Lockhard QC, for the victims' families, whether he remembered what she said, he replied, "I am sorry."
Mr Breslin recalled feeling relieved that his wife was still alive as she was being flown to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital. "I had still this belief that she would survive. On the way back from the hospital pad I pressed the nurse as to how long Geraldine would be in Belfast. She had suggested maybe a couple of weeks." But when he arrived in Belfast that night a doctor broke the news that she had died.
He went on to explain that he had taken a lot of sick leave since his wife's death.
Marion Radford lost her 16-year-old son Alan. She told how her pain and suffering has been so great she sometimes no longer wants to go on living. Mrs Radford referred to her 'son and best friend' as she described how she had been separated from him when the bomb went off. She suffered head injuries but went looking for him amid the carnage. "There was terrible silence after the bomb then I heard screams," she said. "I was aware of bits of bodies on the ground but I didn't want to look."
She recalled further horrific scenes at the hospital as she looked for her son. It was the following day when the confirmation came that the teenager was among the dead, with the mother of six saying the reality only hit her when he was brought him home in a box. Mrs Radford spoke of the 'dreadful loneliness' she still endures and how she struggles to put out a front around people. "There are days I just don't want to live" she admitted. "I see my children suffer as well and that's hard for a mother."
Other relatives giving evidence spoke of insomnia, nightmares, heavy drinking and fraught personal relationships since the devastating Real IRA attack.
Among those to give evidence will be Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son Aiden, Stanley McCombe whose wife Anne died, as well as other relatives of teenagers Alan Radford and Lorraine Wilson and 36-year-old Esther Gibson.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1947
Published Date: 05-Jun-08
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