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Bomb survivor's first bus ride since 7/7
Neil Millard02.11.09
A woman who survived a bus bombing during the 7/7 terror attacks has confronted her fears and got back on one for the first time.
Lisa French was on the top deck of the number 30 in Tavistock Square when suicide bomber Hasib Hussain detonated the explosives he was carrying in his rucksack, killing 13 people including himself.
Miss French, 32, from Newcastle, w as just a few feet from the 18-year-old when the explosion tore the roof off, knocking her unconscious and leaving her with head injuries. She also lost hearing in one ear and two front teeth after choosing to sit on the top deck - something she says saved her life in 2005.
Photographs of the aftermath show she was inches from the section of bus floor that collapsed.
She also suffered psychologically, tormented by nightmares, and until now was unable to bring herself to get on another bus. Transport chiefs who wanted to help her overcome her fear took her on a three-hour tour of the London Marathon route. She said: "Until now buses have looked like coffins on wheels to me. Getting back on a bus it all came flooding back.
"I was clinging to the railing for three hours - but I did it. Hopefully the more buses I get on, the safer I'll feel." Miss French, a human resource manager, was also reunited with Chris Symonds, the British Transport Police worker who came to her aid and guided her from the wreckage after the explosion.
The BBC's Inside Out programme tracked down the Falklands War veteran, and tonight features his meeting with Miss French four years on.
Inside Out is on BBC One at 7.30pm.
