By 
A TALENTED musician who lost her sight in the 1998 Omagh bombing has graduated with a Masters degree, nearly 26 years after the atrocity.
Claire Bowes, who runs Omagh Music Academy, graduated last week from the University of Sheffield with a Masters in ‘Music Psychology for Education, Performance and Wellbeing’.
As a teenager, Claire was enjoying shopping with her friends in Omagh on Saturday, August 15, 1998, when the Real IRA car bomb exploded.
Aged 15 at the time, Claire was blinded instantly after being hit by shrapnel.
Returning to her studies just a matter of months after losing her sight, Claire had to adapt to ‘learning new ways of doing absolutely everything’, even being guided around her school.
She went on to study ‘Music’ at Queen’s University Belfast, and opened her own music school in Omagh in 2013.
Claire, a mother-of-three, began studying for her Masters degree two years ago after finding an online course which meant she was able to study remotely.
Claire said her Masters in ‘Music Psychology’ will ‘massively benefit’ her work as a music teacher, as she aims to ‘encourage confidence and creativity through music’.
“It has taken a lot of hard work and dedication, but I am so glad I found the course,” added Claire. “I learned so much about musical performance and the psychology behind performance anxiety, and this will help my students in their learning.”