Woman injured in bombing had to have her leg partially amputated

A FORMER Omagh woman standing just metres from the car bomb on Market Street when it exploded had to have part of her left leg amputated when she was rushed by ambulance to Altnagevlin Hospital in the immediate aftermath.

Suzanne Travis today told the public inquiry at the Strule Arts Centre that it was horrifying to recall the mayhem and carnage after the bomb.

She never lost consciousness and added that the sights and sounds of that day remain as raw now as they were in 1998.

Mrs Travis was in Omagh with her mother on Saturday August 15, 1998.

She said the blast resulted her in being forced downwards and flung onto her back. There was, she added, an eerie silence and then the sheer sounds of ‘panic and chaos.’

“Initially I was panicking because obviously I knew my mum was to my right at that point. But when I looked it wasn’t her. It was somebody who had horrific injuries and I knew they’d sadly died,” she said.

“I remember moving the arm off me and then that’s when I started to really lose control and panic wanting to know where my mum was at that point.

“I sat up and just remember the carnage that was around me. I saw the poor person who was beside me and there was a person next to them as well whose injuries I will never forget.”

She said both were dead, and it was at this point she saw a friend who got help. She was lifted to the bridge railings and then taken in a car to the Tyrone County Hospital.

Mrs Travis was then taken by ambulance to Altnagevlin in Derry with another casualty, who she understands subsequently died.

She learned later that her mother was also in Altnagelvin in a coma. It was to be a week before they met again.

Mrs Travis was fitted with a prosthetic leg and went on to complete her degree in teaching at Liverpool University.

She has worked on the same school since graduating in 2001, but says that the pains resulting from the injuries sustained in the Omagh bombing have never left her.

“Every morning I face the grim reality of having to put on a prosthetic limb just to be able to get out of bed and begin my day. Life has become more difficult as time as passed and attending hospital appointments and counselling is still ongoing,” she added.

Meanwhile, an Omagh woman, who was visiting the town for the birthday of her mother on August 15th 1998, told the inquiry of heading to the Tyrone County Hospital in the immediate aftermath to help with those injured.

Margaret Murphy said people had head injuries, cuts, bruises and were in a ‘traumatised state.’

“I remember putting three Spanish children on three mattresses on the floor beside each other as I knew they could support one another. I remember one being quite distressed as she needed to use the bathroom. I took her by the hand to the bathroom. She pleaded with me not to leave her and I stood outside waiting on her shouting in to reassure her that I was still there.

“As the place began to fill up, a lovely lady who must have worked for the hospital came in and said do you think these people would like a wee cup of tea. As we had been very busy all I could do was to laugh. I just think it was so out of the blue given the field hospital we were working in.

“The last thing on our mind was a wee cup of tea, but bless her I remember her empathy very well.”

She said that at the finish of her shift she hugged another nurse and they

Nicola Donnelly from Beragh was working in a card shop that day. Just moments before the bombing, she moved from beside the car to the other side of the street which was warmer.

She had only been married six weeks earlier and said the injuries sustained that day had become worse over the years.

“I am in pain daily, my mobility has decreased awfully and my mental health has suffered because of this incident. Every day of my life, I am reminded of this because of my scars.”