I forgive 7/7 bomber, says victim who lost her legs

[TonyGosling]

Still unfortunately not a hint from the hermetically sealed YEP that their local interest Beeston boys may have been innocent victims of a sting operation and terrorism exercise.

* Published Date: 20 March 2008
* Source: EP Leeds First & County

I forgive 7/7 bomber, says victim who lost her legs


Gillian Hicks with her husband Joe
By Aisha Iqbal
GILL HICKS, who lost both her legs in the London bombings, brought the message of hope to Leeds: "I forgive the man who did this to me."
Gill Hicks, who lost both her legs in the London bombings, brought the message of hope to Leeds: "I forgive the man who did this to me."

Ms Hicks, 39, was injured in the King's Cross Tube blast on July 7, 2005, the last person pulled alive from the wreckage of the train attacked by Jermaine Lindsay of Huddersfield.

Three other men from Leeds – Hasib Mir Hussain, 18, of Holbeck; Shehzad Tanweer, 22, of Beeston and Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, also of Beeston but who moved to Dewsbury – were, with Lindsay, the UK's first ever homegrown suicide bombers.

Fifty-two people died in the attacks when four bombs were detonated on three Tube trains and a bus.

Ms Hicks's heart stopped twice and she lost 75 per cent of her blood but miraculously survived.

At a community cohesion conference at Leeds Civic Hall yesterday, Ms Hicks gave a graphic account of the attack, then told the 200 or so guests: "I have to forgive because the person who did this to me is dead.

"To me forgiveness is about how we all work together to not let this happen again anywhere.

"It's about saying 'This is bigger than me, it's about society'. It's about us and we must do this about every conflict and ri
ft in society."

Ms Hicks is now an ambassador for the Peace Direct charity, and is about to launch her own charity MAD for Peace (Make A Difference For Peace) with her husband Joe Kerr.

It was also announced yesterday that Ms Hicks, who now wears two prosthetic legs, will lead a charity walk from Leeds to London in July.

The former publisher and design head said: "Today was a brilliant and important initiative. It gave us an opportunity to talk to a lot of people about the work we do."

Ms Hicks also spoke to young people from the Leeds Muslim Youth Forum.
The event featured workshops on identity, Britishness, how to improve relations between police and the Muslim community and 'The Way Forward' for true community cohesion.

There was also a performance of One Extreme To Another, a play about everyone's vulnerability to the peddlers of extremism.





http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/I-forgive-77-bomber-says.38 97873.jp

[Wokeman]

Tony,
Where on earth do you get this BS from? You must work hard to find it. Have a look at the J7 website, and get an update.

[TonyGosling]

It's from last Thursday's Yorkshire Evening Post and there's very little about her on the J7 site.

[Reflecter]

On the J7 site is actually this very interesting and confused account regarding Gill Hicks which it took me a little while to re-track down. She is infact one of the most interesting characters from the event judging from this research if it is accurate.

http://z13.invisionfree.com/julyseventh/index.php?showtopic=198&st=14

Multiple accounts of her rescue and rescuers, one of whom got a perhaps undeserved MBE, the other a book contract and a lifelong friendship. Who is telling whom the truth?

[Reflecter]

She has a number of horrific personal recollections in the aftermath but does not comment on the holes in the train floor type descriptions of others. She doesnt appear to recollect exactly who saved her either, both of which are understandable.

Her husband has made a number of statements regarding the official narrative being odd, for not using anyones accounts who where there that day and that the Kings Cross United group are an odd collection of 100 plus people, few of whom sufferred any physical injury. The further from the blast the more traumatised he joked, which is perhaps logical given that if you had your faculties together, you were witness to carnage that others were oblivious too in their suffering.

The rescue recollections are certainly the strangest and we have two or perhaps 3 accounts of what went on. This is something that only under oath testimonies and FOIA requests can get to the bottom of.

We need to know who was dispatched there and at exactly what times and the transcripts of those dispatch calls?

Who turned up, when and where and who was first on the scene. Paramedics (if so whom?), BTP or MBE McClunn?

Were they there 4 minutes after the tube blast or almost an hour later when the bus had blown up, as a secondary blast was heard which is attributed to the bus? Or were the blasts staggered and not 'near perfect execution as inferred?

Did a secondary blast occur at the station if it wasn't the bus and what was its cause, location and damage?

Who found Gill and was she the first of many survivors found, or the last person found or perhaps carried out alive, as the article of this thread suggests?

Who carried her?

Did they use a makeshift stretcher from coats, soaked in her blood and abandoned for a firemens lift, then back to a stretcher made of blankets, or was she carried in someones arms the whole way?

Did they use the stairs or a lift?

Aaron Debnam initially carried the stretcher with Gary, changed positions and had Ray help him place Gill into a firemans lift and back onto the blanket stretcher. Who are Ray and Gary and can they be confirmed as present that day and will they testify to this account?

Which officer informed PC Debnam that "That woman Gill has died"?

Are there any hospital records of a lady dying from the RS event from a near total loss of her legs?

Which BBC producer reported her alive to PC Debnam?

Inspector Glen McCunn reports having carried Gill in his arms, (discussing her marriage, rather than at deaths door on a stretcher) to safety. Possibly via the 145 stairs. Can anyone else confirm Glen's,Aaron, Gary or Ray's accounts?

At least one has to be fraudulent unless a switchover of Gill from Aaron and Gary, to Ray and Aaron and then Glen took place but this doesn't explain the differing lift or stairs accounts and those need to be verified.

So she is certainly an interesting character from j7 events. I realise a number of these questions were raised by Bridget but I do not know if FOIA etc have ever gotten to the bottom of them.

In addition I seem to recall some articles on the j7 site that point to odd accounts of Dr's or Consultant Anaesthetists who were called out into the tube system to action that day. Who recalled events that also do not fit the official narrative. I've worked with a number of both and would say that despite some being sleepy and ruled by the rule of halves, that their testimonies would also be worthy of critical examination and FOIA confirmation if they haven't already been.

[astro3]

PC Aaron Debnam wrote his book 'One Morning in July - the Man who was First on the Scene Tells his story' (2007), about how he walked down the line from Russell Square, entered via the driver's carriage, flashed his torch and saw the hellish scene of devastation before him, then noticed that Gill Hicks lying on the floor seemed to be still alive. So he rescued her. I don't quite get what is the mystery about this? Sorry I haven't seen her book. He seemed to indicate that he turned up about ten O'clock that morning.

[Reflecter]

Astro3,

Unless it has been resolved the mystery I am implying is that within that j7 thread they cover how Inspector Glen McCunn recieved an MBE for rescuing Gill Hicks by carrying her in his arms from the train carriage to the platform and then possibly up 145 stairs to the street, rather than Debnam and co using coats, then a blanket stretcher and placing her in a lift.

Which is true and does McCunn therefore not have to hand back his MBE as revoked and explain the crossed stories? McCunn was Debnams inspector and I suppose possibly he took the credit for his BTP teams efforts, when Debnam may have done the work.

It may well have been resolved with Debnam the sole hero as that thread is old.

Also in the thread (book extract) he indicates he recieved two calls before 9am regarding blasts and reached RS station within 4 minutes or so. Only to hear a blast that 'must've been the bus'. Which didn't happen until later on at 9.47 which is quite a time gap.

You say he claims to have arrived at ten o clock which is too late for the Bus blast to be heard aswell and contradictory to his earlier account of arriving so soon.

He was first on the scene, as Inspector McCunn also is credited for and yet he also claims that Paramedics were there first. Which is it?

Therefore I think there are discrepancies that need resolving if they haven't been already.

[Prole]

http://www.julyseventh.co.uk/7-7-kings-cross-russell-square.html#emerg encyserviceresponse