London bombing survivor to help land mine victims

Jul 5 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

A terrible day

THE EVENTS of 7/7 will live long in Ms French’s memory.

Ms French, who works for BT, was in London on business on the day of the bombings. She says she remembers everything just before and just after the bomb went off.

Last night she described climbing aboard the number 30 bus at the same time as the bomber.

She told The Journal: "I remember the man because I thought at the time he was politer than everyone else. He took his rucksack off as he walked past me, other people had just barged past. With hindsight he was obviously worried the bomb would explode early.

"I climbed the steps up to the top floor of the bus behind him.

And Ms French told of the confusion in London that day.

She said: "I knew something was going on because Euston Road was closed and people were being told to get on buses but no one seemed to know exactly what was happening.

"I was just chatting with a couple of other people on the bus about whether they thought it was a bomb in the Underground.

"The next thing I remember I woke up in the brace position. It must have just been a few seconds after the bomb went off as there was still debris flying around. One of the people I was talking to, Rob, had been blown 20 metres down the road but miraculously he only suffered minor injuries.

"Although I was sitting upstairs two seats from the back row of the bus – 1.5m from the bomb – I was protected by the design of the bus. It was a miraculous escape."