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Joy as survivor who lost his legs learns he will be a father
Mark Blunden, Evening Standard07.07.08
A survivor of the 7/7 bombings who had his legs amputated is to be a father for the first time.
Danny Biddle was standing inches away from bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan when he detonated a bomb at Edgware Road.
Mr Biddle, 29, feared he faced years of trying to conceive following the strong drugs he was given during his long stay in hospital.
But his wife Lisa, 28, fell pregnant after just a few weeks of trying and is due to give birth in November.
He said: "We went for the scan on Monday. I just felt complete disbelief that soon I'll be holding the little person I saw on the screen. It was quite emotional. We're over the moon.
"We started trying just after Christmas and we found out that Lisa was pregnant in February and now we just can't wait. We were expecting it to be a couple of years."
Mr Biddle is wheelchair-bound from his injuries as well as being blind in one eye and almost deaf in his left ear. A 20p piece is still lodged in his body from the blast, he needed 300 stitches, had his spleen removed and suffered three heart attacks. He spent a year in hospital, including a long stay at Queen Mary's in Roehampton.
His wife broke the happy news during a shopping trip in February. The couple, from Essex, immediately bought a pregnancy test kit, which turned out positive.
He said: "I couldn't believe it. If I'd been standing up, I definitely would've fallen over."
Mr Biddle is adamant his injuries will not prevent him from being a good father.
He said: "It's not about looking at what I can't do but what I can do, not about what I've lost, but what I've got."
