A survivor of the 1998 Omagh bombing tried to save the life of one of the youngest victims of the atrocity despite his own serious injuries, an inquiry has heard.
Omagh Bombing Inquiry chair Lord Turnbull praised the bravery of Garry McGillion, saying “even though you yourself sustained severe burns and other very serious injuries ... you had the clarity of thought and the determination to do what was necessary to try and save the life of one of the most vulnerable victims”.
Giving evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, Mr McGillion said he and his fiancee, Donna-Marie, were due to get married the week after the bombing, and went into Omagh that day with his sister, Tracey Devine. They were looking for shoes for her 20-month-old daughter Breda, who was to be a flower girl at the wedding.
Ms Devine was among 31 people, including unborn twins, who were killed when the dissident republican bomb exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998.
A neuropsychologist’s view on Donald Trump: We’re seeing the impact of power on the human brain
NFL’s €10m shakedown of Ireland shows they’re the best-dressed welfare spongers in the world
Unelected Musk holds court in Trump’s Oval Office as he defends efficiency drive
Leopardstown racecourse earmarked for 1,000 social and affordable homes
The inquiry, which is taking place in the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh, has already heard pen portraits of the victims and is currently hearing evidence from people who were injured in, or witnessed, the Real IRA explosion and its aftermath.
Mr McGillion said that until the explosion, August 15th had been a happy day with “a real party atmosphere” as many people in Omagh wanted to congratulate them about their forthcoming wedding.
They were in a shoe shop getting Breda’s feet measured when they became aware of the bomb warning, and followed the instructions of police to evacuate towards the lower end of Market Street.
“Donna-Marie had been pushing Breda in the pushchair ... I stepped in between the car on to the footpath and there was just a massive electric shock,” he said.
“When it had happened, and I got myself back on to my feet again, it was as if somebody was turning the radio up. It started nothing, then went to a dull sound, then I could hear alarms going off, then it went to full blast, I could hear children shouting for their mums, mums shouting for their children.”
Mr McGillion’s shirt was on fire, and he had a wound to the back of his head, “but I didn’t realise the extent, didn’t realise how bad it was. My main priority ... was with Donna-Marie and Breda and Tracey, I had to find them.”
He found Donna-Marie with a shop sign on top of her, but was unable to lift it. He saw her hand move, still holding on to Breda’s pram.
“I went again the second time, and I don’t know how I managed it, but I moved the sign ... I was able to grab Donna-Marie by the belt and pull her out, and I grabbed the pushchair as well at the same time, I pulled Breda out.
“My main priority was to give Breda help, I took her over to Tracey, told her I had her, I’ve got her, I’ll look after her.”
He ran with her in his arms to the top of the town, where he handed the infant over to a traffic warden who took her to hospital.
While holding Breda, Mr McGillion said he could feel “the faintest little heartbeat. I knew I had to get her out, and to this day, I still feel that heartbeat.”
Mr McGillion suffered third-degree burns over more than a third of the right side of his body and head, as well as extensive shrapnel injuries and other wounds. Donna-Marie and Tracey were also badly hurt.
When he learned his niece Breda had died, he said it felt “like somebody ripped part of my heart out. That part is still missing today.”
Mr McGillion and Donna-Marie set another date for their wedding while they were still in hospital.
Giving evidence to the inquiry immediately after her husband, Ms McGillion described how, when they married in March 1999, “when we came out of the chapel, there was a huge crowd of people who began to applaud.
“It was quite emotional, to have the community and the people of Omagh support us, their spirit really shone through for the whole of Ireland to see we would not be broken.”
Ms McGillion was so seriously injured that, when taken to hospital, she was identified by her engagement ring. She spent 6½ weeks in an induced coma and was given the last rites four times.
She said she was “forever grateful and thankful” to her family and all those who played a role in saving her life.
“First of all, obviously, to Gary, for starting that process, but also for anybody who did help me on the street that day ... right through to this day, to all my doctors and surgeons on my medical team.”
Among other witnesses the inquiry heard from on Wednesday was Caroline McKinney, who was accompanied by her daughter, Niamh.
On the day of the bombing, Ms McKinney brought Niamh, then 13-months-old, to the beauty salon in the town centre where she worked alongside Debra-Anne [Debbie] Cartwright, who was among those killed in their explosion.
She told the inquiry the premises was evacuated and “the bomb exploded in front of us”.
“I was on the ground, the [shop] shutters had come off and I was pinned to the ground, with the shutters in this arm,” she said.
“Debbie was beside me, and the bomb had blown Niamh out into the middle of the street, still in the buggy, and she was facing Slevin’s Chemist, and there was blood pouring down her face, which was good enough for me at that time, that was fine, she was alive, she was there, she was crying.”
Niamh was seriously injured and has been left with a piece of shrapnel embedded in her head.
A photograph of the damaged buggy being retrieved from the street was shown to the inquiry, and Ms McKinney said she believed it had given her daughter a degree of protection which may have saved her life.
The inquiry resumes on Thursday.
