JULY 30 – Inspirational

“They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support” - Psalm 18:18
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” - Psalm 23:4

Martine Wright was ecstatic when she heard London had been awarded the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. She went out that night with colleagues to celebrate. Leaving home for work, later than usual, the following morning, she caught the train and settled down to avidly read the newspaper report of the Olympic plans. Her thoughts were on getting herself a ticket as soon as possible.

This was just over 10 years ago on 7 July 2005 when four suicide bombers set off bombs in central London – three on the underground, and one on a double decker bus close to King's Cross. 770 people were injured and 52 died. Unbeknown to herself, Martine had chosen a seat just three feet away from one of the suicide bombers.

Martine recalls “reading the paper, then a white flash, and being thrown from side to side, and seeing a figure coming towards her through the carnage. This figure was Liz Kenworhy, an off-duty policewoman, who saved her life by using a belt as a tourniquet around her legs. Martine lost 80 per cent of her blood, and because her injuries were so severe, she was the last person to be rescuied.

Without identification on her it took two days, a missing person report, and DNA from a hairbrush at her flat before she could be positively identified. Her brother and sister didn't recognise her, but her mother knew her by her eyebrows. Martine was resuscitated five times on the operating table, and was in a coma for 10 days. The attack had left her a double leg amputee.

Martine could have spent the rest of her life in bitterness, consumed by questions of “what if....” and “if only....” “If only I hadn't gone out the night before and caught my usual train to work....what if I'd sat in a different carriage?” Martine says her turning point came three weeks later in her first gym physio session. Meeting some of the other bombing victims for the first time, she realised that she wasn't the only one, and as bad as she was physically, others were suffering far mor psychologically – and the deaths - “I had been in a coccoon and no one had told me. That was a real turning point for me.”

Up to the day of the bombings, Martine worked as an International Marketing Manager for CNET, a technical news service, now her thoughts and life were turned around as she embraced a new and very different life.  She said, "I started to believe I was meant to get on that train, meant to be lucky enough to be rescued...."

Tomorrow we'll look at some of her challenges and incredible achievements.

Bryn has chosen the music today. The Isaacs singing “From the Depths of my Heart.”