‘We were just starting to live our lives…’

Lifelong friends, Kate Walls and Rachel Galbraith, were seriously injured in the Omagh bomb. As the 25th anniversary of the atrocity approaches, they are preparing for a skydive to raise money for WAVE Trauma Centre

On the afternoon of Saturday, August 15, 1998, Kate Walls and Rachel Galbraith met in Omagh town centre just as they had many times before.

Little did the firm friends know that within a few hours their lives – and the lives of many others – would never be the same again.

“Rachel worked at the Carlton Bakery and I headed down to meet her,” began Kate.

“I went into the toilet and that’s when there was a bang on the door and we were told to evacuate to the bottom of the town.”

It was a bomb scare, which was typical of the time, so Kate and Rachel thought nothing of it.

“We walked down to the bottom of the town and I remember it being a really sunny day, it was so warm and there were lots of people around,” continued Kate.

She turned to Rachel expressing frustration at how she was destined to miss an appointment…

And that was the last thing Kate remembered before Rachel, who had been standing in front of her, was blasted across the street.

“When it happened – whenever I came round – I couldn’t comprehend what had happened. All I could see were things floating very slowly,” said Kate.

Rachel nodded in agreement.

“My ears started ringing at that point, said Rachel, “it was just a constant ringing.”

The chaos then set in.

All the girls could hear were screams, sirens and shop alarms.

Kate couldn’t understand what had happened to her but she remembered thinking, ‘I just want to go home.’

“I was wearing a dress that day and when I lifted my dress up I noticed a big lump of silver metal had gone right through my leg from the back to the front,” said Kate.

“I put my dress back over my leg, lifted my handbag and put it behind my head and lay down.

“Then I just closed my eyes because I didn’t want to see any more of what was going on.”

Kate remembered a little girl’s black shoe was laid beside her hand.

Officers came over to check on Rachel as she pleaded with them for help.

“The police came running over and checked on me,” said Rachel. “But once they seen I was awake they began to move on.

“I remember shouting ‘help me’ to which they replied ‘I’m sorry, we can’t’.”

The officers had to direct their attention to those who were unresponsive and not moving.

Rachel then, like Kate, closed her eyes to ease the panic which was setting in.

HOSPITAL

The two friends were separated, arriving at the Tyrone County Hospital in different ambulances.

Describing the chaos inside, they said the hospital was engulfed by screams from the injured, the wails of loved ones and the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air above.

Blood was smeared across the hospital walls; as people stood with vacant expressions and victims were being resuscitated.

“The doctors and nurses were running around crying and all I could think was who was going to help us,” said Rachel.

Kate described how her bed was drenched with her own blood before she went into shock and passed out.

“When I came around I thought, this is it – I’m dying,” she said.

Rachel was transported to another hospital.

She recalled sharing an ambulance with a young Spanish boy, who died shortly after arriving.

“I remember I was wearing my Carlton bakery uniform and they just completely cut it open.

“I had lumps of shrapnel sticking out of my body but they just had to leave it there until I got into theatre,” continued Rachel.

“I had an amazing consultant and although the shrapnel had lodged into my bones, he was able to pin my leg and save it.”

Rachel’s mother, in a desperate frenzy, did not find her daughter until midnight, nine hours after the explosion.

The two girls recalled the first time they were able to speak following the ordeal.

A nurse brought a phone to Kate’s bed and when she heard Rachel’s voice she burst into tears.

The girls were eventually discharged from hospital, left to pick up the pieces with many physical and psychological challenges to overcome.

RECOVERY

In December 1998, medics took bits of nerve from both of Kate’s legs in order to try save her limb – she had over 600 stitches by this point.

“I was told it would take two years to find out whether this surgery would work and if I would finally be able to walk again,” said Kate.

Sadly, Kate lost her limb which was amputated below the knee on her right leg in June 2001.

Rachel has struggled through an extensive amount of operations since that fateful day, with further operations awaiting her in the future.

“But we’ve both come through it, and we have lived to tell the story,” she added.

One organisation that has provided invaluable help to both Kate and Rachel is the WAVE Trauma Centre.

WAVE is a cross-community, voluntary organisation formed to support people who have been impacted as a result of the Troubles.

“Whatever we needed, WAVE were there to help us,” said Kate.

“They really looked after us and they were always available when we needed support.”

As the 25th anniversary of the Omagh bombing approaches, Kate and Rachel want to ‘give something back’ to WAVE… and they are prepared to jump out of a plane to do so!

The friends plan to do a 1,500 foot fundraising skydive in Garvagh next Friday, August 4 with all proceeds being donated to WAVE.

“Doing a skydive has been a bit of an ambition since we were young girls,” said Rachel.

“So Kate came up with this mad idea to do one for WAVE Trauma Centre!

“But it’s an organisation that has helped us both immensely in our recovery.

“Hopefully we will get a good bit of money gathered for them – because they really deserve it.”

Kate and Rachel have moved on with their lives since the Omagh bombing, but they still harbour a range of feelings towards the perpetrators of the attack.

Kate said, “It’s mainly feelings of disgust at how they can carry on with their own lives, probably with families and loved ones, yet behind all that they have caused so much death and suffering.”

Rachel agreed, adding, “They took away our youth – myself and Kate were just starting to live our lives.

“After the bomb we had to deal with operations and flashbacks… survivors’ guilt,” she added.

“Not to mention the heartache caused to our families.

“Innocent people from both religions were killed and maimed… for what?

“The only thing they really accomplished that day was that they brought people closer together – stronger than ever.”

“But some day they will be made to pay for their crimes,” concluded Kate. “Whether it’s in this world or the next one.”

To donate to Kate and Rachel’s fundraising endeavour for WAVE Trauma centre, you can search ‘Growth, Healing and Friendship Tandem Skydive’ on JustGiving.com or click the link below: https://www.justgiving.com/page/tandemskydivewaveomagh?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=one_page&utm_content=page/tandemskydivewaveomagh&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=babf4936f29843b5b9048a3d1e433de2